Army in majestic win over Air Force

Ranjeeva Seneviratne

RUGBY: The Sri Lanka Army came up with a marvellous display to score a glorious win over Sri Lanka Air Force by 24 points to 7 at Havelock Park on Friday to register their first win for the season.

After being contained in the first half the marauding soldiers went on the rampage in the second half to completely outplay their counterparts. Skipper Nushal Meepage led from the front and was a source of inspiration to his team-mates with his fiery loose play.

With Kotalawela Susantha, Ratnayake, Kobbekaduwa, Manoj Silva and Karunaratne (who entered the field in the second half) giving a terrific display the Army 'eight' reigned supreme in the loose. They also won a major share of possession from the line outs with Susantha and Ratnayake having the edge over Air Force's Bandara and Kurukulasuriya while the set scrums were shared.

With scrum half Sandun Darshana dishing out some clean passes fly half W.A. Kumara gave them territorial advantage with long kicks to touch and also kicked several 'up and unders' which saw the Air Force full back Rohan Fernando (who was suspect against the high ball) either 'knocking on' or failing to collect with one such blunder ending in a try.

The soldiers also 'crippled' Air Force's three quarter moves with Air Force's centres Charith Seneviratne and Rushika Fernando being 'nailed' time and again by their opposite numbers Asanga Perera and Suranga Pilimatalawa with bone-crunching tackles which resulted in wingers Ratnayake and Sirej Niranga being kept in cold storage.

To add to the Airmen's woes their usually reliable place kicker Charith Seneviratne missed two penalties within kicking range including a 'sitter of a penalty' from 20 metres out just before the breather.

CR and FC - CH and FC

The star studded CR and FC staged a superb second half rally to score a hard fought 19-13 win over CH and FC at Maitland Crescent on Saturday.

The Red Shirts three quarters were rattled by some fierce tackling by CH in the first half which saw them being unable to penetrate the CH defence with centre Lasintha de Costa being brought down twice inches away from the goal line. Hooker Senthil Kumara also fluffed two penalties.

The 'CH eight' gave a sterling display in the loose to match upto the 'Red Shirts' forwards with skipper Dilanka Wiejsekera, Achala Perera, Ranaweera, Sanjeewa, Ruwantilleke and Malewana giving of their best.

CR got their act together in the second half and finally breached the rock hard CH defence through substitute flanker Charith Deshapriya. Once again centre Mohamed Sheriff played a key role in CR's success by firing across three penalties in the second half and adding the extra points to the solitary try scored by Deshapriya despite missing an easy penalty during the dying stages of the game.

CH's sturdily built centre Fijian Jimmy Bolakoro was a marked man being constantly nailed by his opposite number Lasintha de Costa.

Kandy - Havelocks

Defending champions Kandy Sports Club went through several anxious moments before overcoming a gallant Havelocks Sports Club outfit by 24 points to 10 at Havelock Park on Sunday.

Havelocks forwards came up with a superb display to outplay their powerful counterparts in the loose. Hassen, Rajiv Perera, Jayasena, Jayasuriya, Amerasinghe and Dissanayake gave a fiery display to dominate in the loose. They also won a large share of possession in the line outs with the trio of Jayasena, Jayasuriya and Amerasinghe holding sway while the set scrums were shared between Kandy's Walpola and Havelocks' Rajiv Perera.

Kandy's famed three quarters too could not make much headway with fly half Saliya Kumara being constantly 'nailed' by the Havelocks flankers Dissanayake and Sumith Fernando. Centres Fazil Marija and Sameera Silva were also well marked although Marija made two daring runs in the first half before he was brought down by a desperate Havelocks defence.

Havelocks Wasim Thajudeen squandered the possession which came Havelocks way by kicking ahead.

These tactics did not pay dividends with Kandy's full back Nalaka Weerakkody being a tower of strength with his safe collections and booming kicks to touch.

It was Weerakkody who stole the limelight in the second half by firing across a 40 metre penalty and dropping two beautiful goals from 40 metres out to the delight of Kandy SC's supporters.

Kandy's three quarters were unable to provide the sparkle as they missed the services of Sri Lanka centres Pradeep Liyanage and Chamara Vithanage. The forwards too did not live upto expectations although number eight Dushan Lewke, flanker Dilip Selvam and hooker Anuranga Walpola made a valiant attempt.

Police - Old Zahirians

The Sri Lanka Police scored a morale-boosting 37-24 win over a rejuvenated Old Zahirians outfit in their match played at Police Park on Sunday.

With this win the Policemen will be brimming with confidence when they confront the Army on Friday at Havelock Park.