League in hand, Kandy out to maintain unbeaten tag

Richard Dharmapala and Nigel Ratwatte of Kandy on their way to take the loose ball

By Shamseer Jaleel

Defending league and Clifford Cup champions, Kandy Sports Club already having secured the right to safe keep the league title for yet another year in tandem at Nittawela Club House will be out to maintain their unbeaten tag as well when they lock horns with the second placed Havelocks Sports at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium on 28 February. This will be the final game in this year’s league encounter.

Kandy under Fazil Marija performed well maintaining a consistent season under a new local coach Sean Wijesinghe. Sean was able to learn fast in his new stint in the coaching role. Kandy were forced with injury worries to their skipper Fazil Marija and Lavanga Perera both missed out most part of the second round. 

Led by stand in skipper Roshan Weeraratne Kandy delivered their goods. Their forwards were led by Sayuru Anthony, Kishore Jahn, Buwanaka Udangamuwa and Shashika Jayawardena all having a grand season. Roshan operating from the base was super defender keeping away many players without being able to see the try line. 

Kandy three quarter-line was simply the best in clubs today. Nigel Ratwatte playing at fly half after Fazil’s injury was omnipresent accumulating majority of the up country team’s points. Gayan Weeraratne, Oshan Perera, Richard Dharmapala, Arshard Jamaldeen Danushka Dyan all chipped in well for the Kandy Sports Club. With this kind of ample talent it’s very unlikely they will go down to any other clubs that too before receiving the Inter Club league award after this encounter at their own den.

Meanwhile the Havelocks SC under dashing winger and sevens specialist Sandun Herath played well but they were not consistent enough to get closer to Kandy. They lost out to Kandy in the first leg plus the Navy encounter which ended in a draw cost them with points and getting closer to Kandy. 

At present Park club are seven points behind Kandy and no way could they catch them even with a bonus point win. They too got some solid talent such as Dulaj Perera, Danushka Ranjan, Sudharshan Muthuthanthri and Rahul De Silva. They lost out on Dulaj and Dhanushka most part of the season which was costly for the Park club who are celebrating their centenary year in 2016. Overall Kandy look a yard faster than Havies plus playing at home Kandy is near impossible to be beaten. This encounter will be controlled by referee Aruna Rankothge

Sailors who are at number 4 will host the last placed CH & FC at Welisara today. Sailors who lost four of their leading players, final decision on those four players participating at today’s game will be taken before noon today. Lee Keegale, Sathya Ranathunge and Dinusha Fernando proved to be the best. They too have injury worries which kept Sajitha Saranga out for most part of the second round. CH on their part did well with little experience at club level with majority being school leavers. They should be commended for ending the season without pulling out half way. This game will be controlled by Rohan Fernando.

“Red Shirts” who are placed third with 48 points will be hosting the Air Force tomorrow. They should pull it off without much difficulty. Led by Ishan Noor they have the best young blood but with wrong options let them down badly. Ishan who is nursing a knee injury will miss out this game, will be ready for the Clifford Cup in two weeks. Kanchana Ramanayake, Tharinda Ratwatte, Kavindu Perera and Arun Kumar are some star studded players under their Head Coach Imthisam Marrikar who is one of the best coaching staff at present with his wide knowledge. 

Air Force on their part playing well as team but losing focus in the last quarter let them down. They will do well to pace out the game to their peak in the full 80 minutes of the game This encounter will see  Sarath Madugalle handling the whistle.

Tomorrow 5th placed Police will battle it out with the Solders at Police Park. Cops who registered most number of players from the Navy performed well in patches but fail to live to expected level in most of the game. They got too many stars but need to work as a team to get the end result. Reza Mubarak, Moahmed Sheriff, Musheen Faleel, Sharo Fernando and Radheesha Senevirathne are all top class players. Solders on their part played well and being one of the fittest outfits in the league. They will heavily depend on full back Gayan Salinda with his place kicks, touch kicks to accumulate the points. Leading Referee Dinka Peris will handle the whistle.