Kandy conquer CR to stay unbeaten

By Shamseer Jaleel

Unbeaten defending league and Clifford Cup champions Kandy Sports Club continued their winning form in the league when they beat CR & FC by 41 points (5 tries, 5 conversions, 2 penalties) to 30 points (3 tries, 5 penalties) at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium yesterday.

At halftime the scores were deadlocked at 14 points apiece.

The game was fought out with the CR & FC forwards holding the edge in the initial stages of the game. In three-quarter play Kandy was far superior. Shehan Pathirana stood out for Kandy with some powerful runs while he was well supported by forward Yakoob Ali. For CR, Joel Perera led from the front with ample support coming in from Omalka Gunaratne. 

In three-quarter play it was Tharinda Ratwatte who expertly controlled the game for the Red Shirts from the fly-half position. He read the game well and his presence was a bonus. Kevin Dixon while on attack dummied his way through with some powerful runs but lacked support to finish things off with a try. 

For Kandy, Nigel Ratwatte, Dhanushka Ranjan and the ever reliable Thilina Wijesinghe stood out with some fantastic kicking at goal. Buwaneka Udangamuwa led from the front in forwards play with some unstoppable moves for the upcountry lads.

Kandy SC drew first blood in the fifth minute of the game through a Shehan Pathirana try. It was goaled by Thilina Wijesinghe. CR took the lead through two Tharinda Ratwatte penalties. The Red Shirts extended the lead when Joel Perera broke free for a handy try. Another Tharinda Ratwatte penalty lifted CR to a 14-7 lead but Kandy hit back through their powerful Number 8 Buwanka Udangamuwa, who eluded more than three CR players to touch down under the posts. Thilina Wijesinghe added the extras to tie things up at 14-14 entering halftime.

After the turnaround Kandy scored through Ganuka Dissanayake, Dhanushka Ranjan and Shashika Jayawardena. Thilina Wijesinghe converted all three tries and put over the last penalty of the game while Chamod Fernando and Reeza Rafaideen touched down for CR. Ratwatte added two penalties for the Red Shirts. The referee for the game was Dinka Peiris. Now there are only two teams who remain unbeaten - Kandy SC and Havelocks. Kandy will host CH & FC at Nittawela on 9 December.