CH,CR, Kandy and Air Force triumph

CH and FC, CR and FC, Kandy and Air Force put up some scintillating performances to notch up convincing wins in the second week fixtures played in the Nippon Paint Sri Lanka Rugby Major League Tournament last week.

CH and FC after being defeated by Kandy in their tournament opener, put up a belligerent performance to score a 20 points to 13 win. Leading 7-0 with a solitary goal by the short whistle, the Gymkhana Club lads fired in all their cylinders in the second half to add 13 more points to notch up their maiden win and to post the initial points. Their full back Hirusha Sampath became the cynosure of all eyes displaying some exceptional skills both in attack and defence earning his team some valuable points under soggy and muddy conditions due to heavy downpour. At one stage it was a ding dong battle for supremacy where the hosts surged ahead in the last quarter of the match before Janith Chndimal made a mockery making a quick inside pass to another player was intercepted by replacement fly half Dinesh de Silva who ran solo covering around 60 metres ground to touch down under the post to which Hirusha added the extra points. During the latter stages Havlocks made some teasing moves but it was too late as referee Hasantha Werange blew the full time whistle.

Sanath Martis the coach of CH made some key positional changes in the second half while playing much more attacking rugby than the first half. They hoodwinked the rivals in all departments to earn a convincing win.

The much expected Havelocks boys played in patches making basic elementary mistakes. They failed to study the rival game plan initially but got into the limelight in the last quarter of the game which looked too late.

In the 14 minute Samuel Maduwantha missed a 50 metre penalty kick but later was accurate to convert another. Park club prop forward Janindu Feenando barged over to score an unconverted try. Janith Chandimal scored the other try for losers while Gihan Madushanka was instrumental in scoring the other try for winners.

CR stun Police

CR and FC had to work hard to notch up a 19-6 win over Police in their game at Police Park. After a swashbuckling performance in the previous week against Air Foce, the Red jerseyed men were a given a torrid time by the cops who led 6-0 at lemons. It was due to a superb second half rally by winners who pepped up on their game plan with purpose, saw them snatching an impressive win by a 13 points margin more importantly to remain undefeated.

CR skipper Suhiru Anthony led his charges from the front who eventually scored two crucial tries where one went unconverted. They kept the momentum on by infusing the pressure on the cops which enabled them to seal the game through an unconverted try scored by Lasindu Karunathilake. Prince Chamara put over two penalties for the losers.

Police on tbe other hand made some threatening moves using their three quarters. After making the initial scoring through two penalties in the first half, they failed to make an impact making some basic errors. They marched through the rivals defence on several instances just 10 mtere away from goal line but due to poor execution they failed. Moreover, they were offered two penalties within30 metre range Once they opted to have a scrum and the other they kicked to touch where both opportunities went abegging.

Kandy too good for Army

Kandy after being held 14-all at breather, put up a spirited performance to crush Army by 33-14. Their second half burst saw the soldiers unable to curtail the rival fire power as the winners completely dominated in all departments. Kandy scored through five tries and four conversions while the rivals replied with two converted tries.

The winners tries were scored by replacement hooker Dilshard Fareed (2), Wawala Pandotha, Maleetha Wijesundera and Lakshitha Ranaweera with Tharindu Ratwatte making the conversions. For Army Dilshan Hettiarachchi and skipper Ashan Bandra planted the tries while Hettiarachchi goaled the two tries while fluffing a penalty earlier.

Army once again failed to maintain consistency after posting 14 points. They seemed fit but are lacking a proper game plan. Midway through the game they failed to hold fort and curtail the rivals sneaking through their defence

Air Force edge out Navy

Air Force posted their maiden win with a hard earned 17 points to 15 after trailing 10-12 at the short whistle. Both teams after losing their tournament opener fought hard but Airmen were fortunate to pull out a close win by a narrow two point margin.

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