Friday Dec 27, 2024
Friday Dec 27, 2024
Monday, 4 March 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Inter Club League 2018/2019
By Shamseer Jaleel
Kandy Sports Club kept the Inter Club League rugby title for the fifth consecutive year when they edged out Havelock SC by 21 points (2 tries, 1 conversion, 3 penalties) to 19 points (3 tries, 2 conversions) at Havelock Park yesterday.
At the short breather Kandy led 18/0
Kandy settled in at lightning pace and took command of the game with their three-quarter line and mobile forward combining beautifully. Shehan Pathirana was outstanding in both attack as well in defence plus fast on the loose ball. Their skipper Richard Dharmapala too stood out with some ghosting moves which mostly kept the Park Club in check. Roshan Weeraratne handled the base and worked the line with much success in the early half.
Thilina Wijesinghe too had a good game with some fine touch kicks which gave Kandy the better option to attack from opposition half. Kandy once again lost out Buwanaka Udangamuwa, their cracking number 8, through injury. Although he was taken out due to not recovering fully, he will be fit for the Clifford Cup second game for Kandy.
For the Park Club Ajmeer Fajudeen, Reza Mubarak and Mithun Hapugoda played well. Hapugoda did some dummies which caught the Kandy defence all over. The absence of their Head Coach Sanath Martis was a big blow for the Park Club as they were like “children without their parents” missing something yesterday. His expert thoughts would have made a world of difference for the team. Kandy drew first blood in the second minute of the game through a three-quarter move ending in a try for Nigel Ratwatte. Thilina Wijesinghe though, was off-target put over a penalty a few minutes later to take an 8/0 lead. A late tackle by Nigel Ratwatte cost the Park Club yet another penalty. They almost gave up when Richard Dharmapala dummied his way through, beating nearly 6 Havies players to touch down under the posts. Thilina added the extra 2 points to take the breather at 18 to nothing.
After the turnaround, Kandy was able to score only one penalty as they defended for the most part of the game. The Havies who took complete control of the latter half scored their tries through Sithum Peiris, Dinuk Amarasinghe and Mithun Hapugoda. Reza Mubarak converted two of them.
Referee Just Wang
Pix by Chamila Karunarathne
