CH & FC secured their first victory of the SLR Inter-Club League Rugby Tournament when they defeated Navy Sports Club 28 (four tries, four conversions) to 22 (three tries, two conversions, one penalty) at Welisara on Friday.

CH raced to an early lead of 14-00 inside the first ten minutes, which put them firmly in control of the match. CH drew first blood in the sixth minute when flanker Samuel Ogebebor went over the line, and fly-half Rohitha Rajapaksa added the extras before going over himself three minutes later, which saw them gain some good momentum in the first half.

Navy, who were dominated for most parts of the first half, opened their account in the 27th minute when Janith Laksara touched down. CH continued to dominate proceedings to finish
the first-half on a high note as centre Avantha Lee crossed the white line, which was followed by their fourth try just before the half-time interval through experienced hooker Prasath
Madushanka, who dived over in the 39th minute, which was converted by Rajapaksa to take a stunning half-time lead of 28-05.

The Sailors had a brilliant start to the second-half as they sent flanker Adeesha Weeratunga over for a try in the 45th minute, which was converted by Chathura Seneviratne.

The home team continued to put pressure on CH and scored another try through Nirosh Perera in the 52nd minute, and with Seneviratne’s conversion, made it 28-19 with CH still in the lead.

Navy made it very tricky for CH in the 70th minute when Seneviratne booted over a penalty, which brought down the deficit to just six points going into the last ten minutes.

Despite Navy’s best efforts, CH were able to weather the storm and secure their first win of the season.