Kandy and CR out to continue with winning streak

By Shamseer Jaleel

Both defending League Champions Kandy Sports Club and defending Clifford Cup Champions CR and FC are poised to continue with their unbeaten winning streak going into week 5 games which will commence on 5 December.

This week’s encounters start with a game between the Cops and the Soldiers. Cops lost out to Havies plus their rhythm in the league in question with some inconsistent rugby against the Park Club. They are expected to bounce back in order to keep their top 4 spot secured to play in the Cup segment in round 2. At present Police dropped down to number 6 in the table while Army SC showed some good rugby climbing up the ladder to number 5 position after some questionable referee’s decision going against them in the recent past. A close encounter is expected with the team settling down first expected to pull it off.

On 6 December there will be two games down for decisions. Last placed Sailors will host the second placed Red Shirts at Welisara. This game could see the Longdon Place Club cementing their position and continuing their winning streak Lasindu Karunathilake, Mursheed Doray, all playing good rugby CR should pull it off with less issues unless otherwise they create some for them. Meanwhile Sailors will be expecting a lot from Thilina Weerasinghe, their place kicker. Navy lost out more than 10 players and fielding some young blood could give out their best in the initial half but lasting the 80 minutes of play could be a question for Viper (jnr) Gunaratne’s outfit.

CH and FC though ending on the losing side last weekend against the second placed CR and FC, they look a formidable outfit under the watchful eagle eyed Coach Sanath Martis. Hirusha Sampath, their full back being the stand out player for them playing some exceptional rugby plus kicking abilities for the red and White jersey. Air Force led by Parakrama Rathnayake and experienced Gayantha Iddamalgoda should re-group the youngsters for this game but in reality looks a tough ask for the outfit from Ratmalana to pull it off. Week 5 will end in the Central Hills where Kandy Sports Club play their second last home game when they host Havelock Sports Club at Nittawela. The defending champions are tipped to field their best outfit for this encounter. Their number 1 prop, Lasith Attanagoda recovering from his injury is expecting a comeback at their CR game in 2 weeks’ time. Praveen Charles, Sanushka Abeywickrema and Jason Dissanayake in the top 8 Kandy is assured of ample good ball for their three quarter line to work with. Heshan Jensen cemented his position at scrum half after Sooriyabandara moved to full back playing very good rugby for the Up Country outfit. Nigel Ratwatte, Tarinda Ratwatte, Danushka Ranjan and Dinal Ekanayake all at their best it will be tough for the Park Club to stop them from running around Nittawela. Meanwhile Havelock SC under Azmir Fajudeen and well supported by Abdullah Fayis, Shehan Diaz, and Samuel Maduwantha are expected to put up their best effort here. Samuel Maduwantha the former Antonian could make the difference if the Park Club were to impress with his place kicks and territory gaining touch kicks. So far he has been outstanding.