Friday Dec 27, 2024
Friday Dec 27, 2024
Thursday, 14 December 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shamseer Jaleel
The Dialog Inter-Club 2017/2018 season will come to a short break with the first round of games coming to an end this weekend.
The pick of the games this week is the one between defending champions Kandy Sports Club and Havelocks Sports Club which will be worked off at Havelock Park under floodlights.
CR&FC will be all out to end the season with a win over the cops who are yet to register a win. The only time they came close to snatching one was against CH&FC, in an encounter which ended in a 30-30 draw. Police are going through a learning process, with only full-time policemen and regular force staff being given permission to take part for them this year. This led to some outstanding players such as Musheen Faleel, Radheesha Seneviratane, Mohamed Abzal and Reza Rafaideen crossing over to other leading clubs in Colombo.
Police will need to play as a unit, something they have not done this season. Continuity and playing the game at the same pace for 80 minutes is a major obstacle for them. CR on the other hand are also going through one of their worst seasons. They will depend heavily on their skipper and national Sevens player Kavindu Perera, Tharinda Ratwatte, Omalka Gunaratne and Shashan Mohamed to come out on top. National Sevens player Omalka has been outstanding this season. In form CR will be favoured to win this game. The referee for the contest has yet to be appointed.
A close encounter is expected between Navy and CH&FC at the racecourse grounds this weekend. Navy lost some of their leading players to CH and will depend heavily on their forwards who had an outstanding encounter against defending champions Kandy SC in their last outing.
Dulanjana Wijesinghe, Dhanushka Perera, Mohamed Abzal and Thilina Weerasinghe are all at the top of their game. Weerasinghe’s place kicks will be vital if the sailors are to pull this one off. Meanwhile, CH too is playing cohesive rugby through Lee Keegale, Sathya Ranathunge, Sajith Saranga and Yoshitha Rajapaksa. All these lads crossed over from the sailors this year. Kicking sensation Sameul Maduwantha will have his kicking accuracy tested. It will be a good battle between the coaching combination of Laga and Ronny against Mothilalal Jayathilake. It is anyone’s game with a close finish expected. On form Navy should pull this one off. The game will be refereed by H.P. Weeranga.
Army will be all out to register a bonus point win when they face Air Force in their final league encounter. Gayan Salinda, skipper Senanayake and Ashoka Jayalal will be the key players for the Army outfit while the Air Force team will depend on Radheesha Seneviratne, Iddamalgoda, Charith Seneviratne and Seelagama to come on top. On form Army should finish with a win. S. Priya will referee this encounter.
Defending champions Kandy will be playing their last league game in round 1, when they lock horns with second-placed Havelocks in an encounter which will take place under floodlights. Kandy, having secured bonus point wins in five of the six games they have played so far, will hold the edge through their lightning fast three-quarter line. Dhanushka Ranjan, Richard Dharmapala, skipper Gayan Weeraratne, Fazil Marija, Nigel Ratwatte and Thilina Wijesinghe are all in peak form and will be difficult customers to stop. Even a top-class national player of the calibre of Thilina Wijesinghe is finding it tough to get into the starting 15. Their forwards also played well but were sternly tested against the sailors last weekend. Yakoob Ali, Shehan Pathirana and Sayuru Anthony will all be the main players to watch out for.
Havelocks will miss out on the services of Kevin Dixon, who suffered a nasty jaw injury and will be out for a few more weeks. Dulaj Perera, Sharo Fernando, Nishon Perera, Sandun Herath and Rahul De Silva will be the heavily marked players from the Park Club. If Dulaj is in top kicking form this could put Kandy under pressure. Kandy will be favoured to pull this one off and maintain their unbeaten tag. In the second leg they will see Havelocks, CR, Police and CH&FC at Nittawlela.
Kandy player Jason Dissanayake was yellow carded in their last game against the sailors at Nittawela. He was dragged on beyond the touch line by Navy player Muller. Priyantha Gunaratne, who handled the game, missed out on warning the Navy player to release the Kandy player. The citing officer of the game found that Jason Dissanayake had done nothing wrong. It is surprising that a leading referee has not been appointed for this crunch game. The game will be refereed by Rohan Fernando.
