Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Tuesday, 24 January 2017 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shamseer Jaleel
Havelocks Sports Club continued their winning streak in the current Inter Club league rugby tournament when they handed off Air Force in a gritty performance winning 37/29 and holding on to the top spot.
But the next three games are going to be tough outings for the Park club with traditional rivals CR & FC, Navy and defending champions Kandy SC blocking their way towards claiming the league this year.
Navy SC Saliya Handapangoda breaks through a tackle by Buwanaka Udangamuwa
The game was played under wet conditions but this did not stop the Park Club not only winning but also collecting valuable bonus point in this outing which is important for their final game against the defending champions, Kandy SC. Air Force too played well with their star place kicker, Iddamalgoda who had a grand outing once again in tandem. For Havies Dulaj Perera, Sharo Fernando and Jason Melder played their hearts out.
Colombo heat was too much for Kandy SC as they failed to capitalise from a good first half failing to impress in the later half. The game was played in good pace, Cops dishing out better rugby in the second half in a close finish where the defending champions pulled off a close 34/23 win by keeping their hopes alive in defending the title in a bonus point win.
Kandy after their magnificent performance against the Sailors disappointed the Up Country supporters who expected a much better performance in this game. In forwards play Shehan Pathirana and Sayuru Anthony stood out as usual with some power play foxing the opposition team on more than one occasion. Sooriyabandara started the game with regular skipper, Roshan Weeraratne out with an injury. Kandy led 31/8 at the breather but never scored a try afterwards. It was the Cops who played cohesive rugby in the latter half but it was too much of a lead for them to make a come-back and win.
Navy went on a 13-try blitz where the last placed inexperienced CH could only reply with a solitary try. It was a comeback game for Dinusha Fernando and Chanaka Chandimal, both scoring hat tricks of tries in a run-away win for the Sailors but they will need to sit at number 3 position for yet another week after their thrashing at the hands of the defending champions a week back in Kandy by half a century.
Army made a bold comeback when they made a good 24/20 win over CR & FC playing at Longdon Place. Soldiers had a comfortable lead 24/10 with 10 minutes of play left but the ‘Red Shirts’ stormed back in to the game with Omalka Gunaratne coming back from the sin bin to score his second try and go towards a close win but a knock on try attempt kept the Longdon Place club away from a win. Their disappointing season continues with this game and they might get pushed down to number 5 position in the league.
With all the clubs having three more games to play, a few games could turn out to be deciders in the league. Kandy vs Havies leads the way while Navy vs Havies and Havies vs CR could also be a threat for the Park clubs lead in the league. So the Havies will need to come on top in all three games while Kandy will have to beat the Park club away but have two outings against Air Force (home) and CH (away). Both the games Kandy is expected to pull off without much trouble though beaten by the Air Force in the first leg. Playing in Kandy any team will find it tough to come out with a win against the up country lads.
