Nippon Paint Rugby League CH down Havies to record first win

By M. Shamil Amit

CH & FC came back to winning terms when they pulled off a well-deserved 20 points to 13 win over the fancied Havelock SC to chalk up their first win of the Nippon Paint Rugby League tournament played at Havelock Park yesterday.

CH, having taken a slender 7-0 lead at the breather, made up their points through two goals and two penalties to the two tries and a penalty scored by Havelock SC.
CH, though undergoing a defeat after their gritty performance against defending champions Kandy SC in the first match, showed in this game that they are going to be a side to be reckoned with.

The conditions underfoot yesterday due to the soggy field and rain saw the two teams having a tough time with ball handling, and the running made it hard.
Both sides found it tough, and it took as much as 37 minutes for the first scoring to be done, which was by CH, with Laksara going over for a try and Hirusha Nethmina making the conversion for them to go into the lead 7-0, which stood the score at lemons.

On resumption, it was Havelock SC who made the first scoring in the 45th minute when Samuel Maduwantha booted over penalty to decrease their opponents lead, but three minutes later CH increased the lead with Hirusha making no mistake with the penalty that was offered.

With the two sides sharing honours, the Havies succeeded in again decreasing CH’s lead with an unconverted try scored by Janidu Fernando.

In the 70th minute, CH surged ahead from a peach of a try scored by Dinesh Lakshan, who intercepted a Havies pass and sprinted over 50 metres to plant a try under the post, which gave Hirusha an easy kick at goal. Six minutes later, Hirusha booted over a penalty to give the CH a healthy lead of 20-8.

But the Havies, undeterred and in a do-or-die effort, succeeded in breaching the CH defence, which ended in Chanaka Chandimal going over for an unconverted try. However, the effort was too late, as it could not prevent CH from coming out victorious and inflicting the first defeat of the Havies.

Referee: Hasantha Weranga