Kandy dispatch of CH

Kandy’s Shehan Pathirana wins a lineout – Pic by Shamseer Jaleel

By Shamseer Jaleel

The Kandy Sports Club remained unbeaten after their Inter-Club League first round encounter against CH & FC whom they beat by 38 points (6 tries, 4 conversions) to 22 points (3 tries, 2 conversions, 1 penalty) at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium yesterday.

At halftime Kandy led 19-8. Kandy did take time to settle in the early part of the game. CH, grabbing this opportunity, started attacking in Kandy’s 22. CH scored a try and penalty in the early stages of the game. Kandy settled late but once they found settled well. They used their powerful three-quarter line to attack. Ranjan and Dharmapala looked threatening for the home team. They made some swift moves. Meanwhile the opposing team was well supported by Yoshitha Rajapaksa and Niwanka Prasad in forwards play while Anuradha Herath stood out in the three-quarter line. CH were given ample support by Sudam Sooriyarachchi and Hirantha Perera in the initial half. Sudam was taken out due to injury later in the game which broke the link between the forwards and three-quarter line.

Thlina Wijesinghe too was not at his peak with his kicks at goal. Kandy was well supported by their mobile forwards, led by Buwanka Udangamuwa, Heshan Kalhara, Yakoob Ali and Shehan Pathirana, who produced a magnificent performance for the home team.

CH & FC drew first blood in the 7th minute of the game when Sudam Soriyarachchi dummied his way for a try. Samuel Maduwantha who was off target, put over a penalty for CH four minutes later to take a commanding 8-0 lead. Kandy woke up in the 18th minute of the game through a sweeping three-quarter move ending in a Danushka Dyan try. One try apiece from Richard Dharmapala and Buwanka Udangamuwa gave Kandy a comfortable 19-8 lead at halftime. Maduwantha missed a 50-metre penalty in the first half.

After the turnaround Kandy scored through Dhanushka Ranjan, Arshard Jamaldeen and Sahshika Jayawardena. One of them was goaled by Thilina Wijesinghe. For CH their two tries were scored by hooker Nivanka Prasad. Both were converted by Maduwantha. The referee for the game was Praneeth Weeranga. Kandy and Havelocks, the league’s two unbeaten teams, will battle it out in Nittawela next Sunday.