Kandy survive Havies storm

Kandy SC full-back Srinath Sooriyabandara passing the ball to his skipper Lavanga Perera

By Shamseer Jaleel at Nittawela

Defending league champions Kandy Sports Club were tested to the maximum by Havelock Sports Club and in the end pulled off a hard-fought 27-point (four tries, two conversions, one penalty) to 22-point (three tries, two conversions, one penalty) win in their inter-club rugby encounter, which concluded at the packed Nittawela Rugby Stadium yesterday.
At the short breather, Kandy led 19-17.

It was Havies who settled well and played a good game in the first 25 minutes of the game. Their forwards and three quarters combined well in working as a unit. Skipper Azmir Fajudeen, along with Abdullah Faiz, Shehan Diaz, Sandesh Jayawickrema, and Samuel Maduwantha, played a grand game for the Park Club, who put in everything but a win in the end.
They wanted to regroup and win here to make a comeback, but they failed in the end after putting up a brave effort under new head coach Saliya Kumara.

Kandy took time to settle with Havies, putting a lot of pressure on them. Closer to the short break, they lost out on their playmaker, Tarinda Ratwatte, for a yellow card for a high tackle, and during that time, Havies made a bold comeback by scoring 10 points and entering the game.

But it was the experienced three-quarter line of Nigel Ratwatte, Danushka Ranjan, Tarinda Ratwatte, and Srinarth Sooriyabandara that stood out both in defence and in attack, splitting the Park Club all over within a span of 10 minutes and scoring twice.

Samuel missed an early penalty for the Park Club in the 8th minute of the game, but the visitors scored through a forwards rush when Shenal Silva touched down. Samuel added the extras to make it 0-7.

But it took only a few minutes for Kandy to hit back through a sweeping three-quarter move, ending with their winger, Dinal Ekanayake, touching down. Tarinda made a difficult conversion look easy to equalise the scores. Kandy stormed back to their usual running rugby when their other winger, Danushka, touched down at the right corner flag.

Samuel, who did not have his best kicking days, missed another 45-metre penalty for the Havies, but Randitha Warnapura’s try and Maduwantha’s conversion took them ahead 12-14.
Next, Chathuranga Kudalige scored for Kandy, and Nigel converted to take the lead 19-14. On the stroke of half-time, Maduwantha scored a penalty, cutting their deficit to two points.
After the turnaround, Kandy performed well in the initial 20 minutes of play, with Tarinda putting over a penalty and Sooriyabandara scoring a classic try, which took Kandy to a comfortable 10-point lead, but Havies pulled one back with a try through Dinupa Seneviratne.

Though Havies tried hard to break Kandy’s defence, it stood firm and kept the Park Club waiting for one more year to beat them at home. Kandy, in the end, completed their 5th bonus point win.

Referee: Gihan Yatawara