Kandy SC suffer shock defeat

Tuesday, 11 November 2014 00:04 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shamseer Jaleel One of the main contenders for this year’s inter-club league title, Kandy Sports Club, suffered a shock defeat two days ago at the Race Course rugby grounds against Army SC. Kandy were last defeated by Army a decade ago at the Galle Face grounds by one point. After settling down in the first half with a healthy lead of 13, Kandy failed to capitalise in the latter half. Kandy’s main worry was their South African fly half, Quinton Crocker, who had an off-day on the field. He not only missed out on more than a dozen points but there was also a question mark over his individual play. Most of the time he opted to kick into the hands of Army players and this made Kandy run more than they expected. Furthermore, their star line, featuring national three-quarters such as Gayan Weeraratne, Fazil Marija and wingers Lavanga Perera and Anurudha Wilwara, hardly touched the ball. Wilwara, who dashed his way for a solo try in the first half, touched the ball only twice during the entire match. On the other hand, Army SC settled down well in the second half. Their Number 8 Pio Tuwai was unstoppable during the first few moves. Things don’t get any easier for Kandy as they face stiff opposition from CR & FC and Navy in the coming weeks. For Army SC, Fullback Prince Chamra and Number 8 and second-rower Randika Alwis had a grand outing. However, Kandy was very unfortunate as their Kenyan player Oscar Ouma could not take the field as he arrived from Kenya on the morning of the match. After the second week’s matches, Navy lead the points table with two wins followed by CR&FC, Kandy and Army.

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