Kandy hand Havies season’s maiden loss to close gap at the top

By Shamseer Jaleel

Kandy put up a grand show when they put a full stop to Havelocks’ winning ways. Kandy scored six tries while Havelocks scored three in reply. Kandy not only narrowed the gap at the top of the table but also earned a bonus point in this outing. 

The game was controlled by the respective forwards but both three-quarter lines looked threatening on the move.

With this win Kandy is just one point behind Havelocks and Navy who are sitting at the top of the table with 34 points apiece. Second round games will commence after a one-week break for the Christmas holidays.

Army earned a win at Police Park after three close calls against CR&FC, Havelocks and Navy, to go past a disorganised Police outfit 27-24.

Army controlled the game well with their nippy scrum half Mohamed Rizvi who had a grand game. In attack he was unstoppable and his nifty movement caught the cops off guard on a number of occasions. He beautifully controlled the game to create a 20-7 lead at halftime. As usual Police’s Number 8 Radeesha Seneviratne played well along with Sansoni and Abzal.

CR went on a 12-try blitz when they led 43-8 at halftime. It was too much for the last-placed CH who are struggling for form. It was a strong recovery for the red shirts who regrouped after their thumping against Kandy in Nittawela last weekend.

After the turnaround they added another five more tries to complete the game. CR flanker Tariq Salih enjoyed one of his best games in club rugby for the Longden Place club.

Navy finished the first round on a high note when they beat Air Force away in Ratmalana 22-8. The lads from Welisara only lost out to Havelocks in their seven encounters. 

It was a close first half with nothing separating the two sides with a 5-3 lead for the sailors.

After the turnaround Navy settled well and scored tries through Sathya Ranathunga and Kanchana Perera. Thilina Weerasinghe was on target with two try conversions and also put over a penalty. While for Air Force Ratnayake scored the try with the evergreen Charith Seneviratne on target with a penalty kick.