Monday Sep 23, 2024
Monday Sep 23, 2024
Monday, 27 November 2017 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Defending league champions Kandy Sports Club once again dominated proceedings in their second home match for this season when they grounded Air Force 55-13 at Nittawela after leading 24-6 at halftime.
Kandy scored through nine tries, five of which were converted while the Air Force outfit got their points through two penalties and one penalty try.
Kandy scored first through their burly prop Diithri Wijetunge with Tharindu Chanaka scoring the second try which Nigel Ratwatte converted. Richard Dharmapala scored the third try.
The game was played at a hectic pace despite the wet conditions which saw three players being yellow-carded. Two of the players were from the Air Force and one was from Kandy. Fazil Marija had time for one more Kandy try with Nigel adding the extra points to have the team heading into halftime leading 24-6. Air Force placekicker Iddamalagoda was on target with two penalty kicks for the visitors.
After the turnaround Wilwara could not be kept silent as he scored his first try of the match before replacement fullback Thilina Wijesinghe touched down and added the extra two points to take the score to 36-6.
Tries from Sooriyabandara and Dyan took Kandy’s score to 50. Air Force then scored their only try of the match when Kandy’s forwards made continuous errors, leading the referee to award a penalty try. Skipper Gayan Weerarathne scored the final Kandy try to secure an easy bonus point win ahead of their meeting with a wounded CR&FC away in Colombo next Saturday. The game was refereed by Ajith Kumara.
Havelocks scored an unimpressive 31-26 win over a resilient CH&FC outfit which is improving fast. National Sevens player Kevin Dixon was injured when he collided with Chanaka Chandimal to save a certain CH try. According to reliable sources, the former Peterite will be out for at least two months.
Navy, who were missing three of their regular players due to illness, pulled off a narrow 31-24 win over last-placed Police at Welisara.
Fly half Ashan Bandara of Army SC scored a hat-trick to floor CR&FC at Longdon Place. CR will have a tough time making a comeback after two consecutive losses to CH and Army and they were almost beaten by the Sailors.
There will be more bad news as they face defending champions Kandy SC in their next match at home. The only good news for the Longdon Place club is the return of their skipper Kavindu Perera after a three-match suspension.
Meanwhile, Kandy’s Shehan Pathirana, who had already missed three matches, will be forced to sit out due to Sri Lanka Rugby not keeping or showing any interest in holding an inquiry into his incident against CH where it was evident that there was an accidental stamping by the former Royalist who has a record of good conduct on the field.
