Army rally to outgun CH

Monday, 3 December 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Army SC mounted a superb second half rally to beat CH & FC 24-18 at Police Park.

With this win, Army secured their second victory while the formidable CH & FC outfit, who were expected to be the top contender for the league, suffered their third defeat this season after losing out to CR & FC and Havelocks in their earlier encounters.

Penalties from Maduwantha and Salinda early in the game equalled the score at three apiece. Former Thomian skipper and national Sevens player Naveen Heenakankanmge used his lightning speed to score the first try for CH & FC. But Army hit back through Sameera Bulathsinhala to equalise the scores now at 10 apiece.

On the stroke of halftime Sameual Maduwantha took CH into the lead with an easy penalty for CH & FC. CH led 13-10 at halftime. After the turnaround Army played with a lot of power and purpose and they created some powerful moves which kept CH under pressure. Bulathsinhala scored his second try with Gayan Salinda displaying accuracy with his conversion to push Army ahead 17-13. Tries from Ashan Bandara and Salinda maintaining his kicking accuracy gave the soldiers a 24-13 lead. There was time for a consolation try from Sudam Sooriyarachchi to cut the deficit to 24-18. There were some poor calls by one of the assistant referees, which prevented Army scoring two more tries. (SJ)

Second-half rally takes Navy through

Navy Sports Club were on equal terms with Air Force at 14 a piece but hit back with tries in tandem to secure an easy 43/25 win.

Air Force tries were scored by Gayantha Iddamalgoda, Padmashanka Weerasinghe, and Suraj Thiakawardena with Charith Seneviratne on target on two penalties kicks and equal number of conversions. Meanwhile, for the Sailors, their tries were scored by Buddhima Piyaratne (3), Charith Silva (2), and Niorsh Perera with Thilina Weerasinghe putting over a solitary penalty and accurate in five of the try conversions. (SJ)