Kandy beat Air Force at Nittawela

Monday, 16 February 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Kandy Sports Club Hooker Damith Dissanayake on attack with support coming his way from Anuruddha Wilwara and Shashika Jayawardena

Kandy SC Centre Koto Pongi in attack against Air Force By Shamseer Jaleel Kandy Sports Club yesterday beat Sri Lanka Air Force by 66 points (10 tries, 8 conversions) to 27 points (3 tries, 3 conversions, 2 penalties) at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium. At the short breather Kandy SC led 33-7. Kandy SC excelled in their usual play of attack – pass and play. Their Tongan born and Japan based player Koto Pongi was outstanding. His ghosting moves were regular. On attack he split the Air Force three quarters all over. Kandy SC fly-half Fazil Marija worked his three quarters at every given time. With Roshan Weeraratne operating from the scrum, his defence was top class, giving some fine cover tackles to keep away the Airmen from scoring freely. On the wing both Anuruddha Wilwara and Lavanga Perera were threatening with their lightning pace moves while being rock solid in defence. Airmen on their part played well in patches though they expected too many wonders to happen from their Fijian players who lacked support from the local players. Kandy SC drew first blood early in the third minute when their flanker Chris Colette brushed through the Air Force defence to touch down. Roshan Weeraratne added the extra two points. Ten minutes later Kandy after attacking in the opposition scored through Anuruddha Wilwara who touched down left corner flag. Then the next few minutes saw winger Lavanga Perera and Chris Colette (2) touching down tries. Roshan Weeraratne converted all of them. Airmen scored once through Arunshantha with Nuwan Perera adding the extra two points. After the turnaround, Air Force fly-half Nuwan Perera was on target with a penalty kick. Kandy SC centre Richard Dharmpala danced his way to touch down under the posts. Then the game saw the Air Force Fijian centre Rodnade touching down with Udayanga Lahiru adding the extra two points to cut the deficit (47/17). Later in the second half Kandy scored through Wilwara, replacement hooker Mohamed Ali, Kishore Jahan and Arshard Jamladeen. For Air Force, Lahiru Weeraratne touched down for Nuwan Perera to add two points with a difficult conversion. Referee – Arnua Rankothge Touch Judges – Y.M.S. Ratnayake and Sarath Madugalle Match Commissioner – Tony Amit –Pix by Mohamed Shafeek