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| Wednesday, 9 July 2003 |
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Superb fight-back by CH and FC The Colombo Hockey and Football Club staged one of the greatest comebacks in club rugby in recent years to score a glorious 29-28 win over the Sri Lanka Army in their Caltex 'A' Division League rugby match at Galle Face on Sunday. This magnificent win not only enabled the CH and FC to remain in the second position but also stay in contention for the Caltex 'A' Division League Rugby Title. Fly half Nalin Dissanayake and centre Jim Bolokoro were the heroes of the CH and FC. Dissanayake who was brought in as fly half during the breather gave them territorial advantage with his long kicks to touch while his 'up and unders' had the Army defence in disarray. Sturdily built Jim Bolokoro sliced through the soldiers defence several times with his powerful runs and scored three superb tries. In the 9th minute of the second half centre Jin Bolokoro scored mid left off a second phase move with Saranga Jayakody converting it to make it 28-12. Off the ensuing kick off CH flanker Kinijoji Rakata made a thundering 40 metre run and slung out a pass to winger Pradeep Sivakantha to fall over for an unconverted try by the left corner flag. Five minutes before the final whistle the lads from Maitland Crescent reduced the deficit further when they won a line out in the Army '25' and centre Jim Bolokoro crashed through for his third try of the match to make it 22-28 in Army's favour. With just two minutes to go for the final whistle CH came back storming into Army territory. Off a scrum in the Army '25' flyhalf Nalin Dissanayake kicked a grubber and centre Jim Bolokoro who followed it was obstructed by an Army defender which resulted in referee Shamrath Fernando awarding a penalty try to CH and Saranga Jayakody taking the kick at goal sent the ball sailing over the cross bar much to the delight of his team-mates to give CH and FC a glorious 29-28 win. It was the Army who completely dominated the first half. After the visitors took an early 3-nil lead through a try by Jim Bolokoro the soldiers came back storming into CH territory to snatch the lead. They won a scrum in the CH '25' and flyhalf Ajit Peiris kicked a grubber and centre Kapila Knowlton collected and scored mid left. Full back Nimal Wijesiri added the extra points. Five minutes later scrum half Naufer Rahim scampered through for an unconverted try to make it 12-5. A few minutes later flanker Herathge Karunaratne crashed through for a try off second phase move. The soldiers increased the lead when full back Nimal Wijesiri fired across two penalties from 25 metres out to give the soldiers a 23-5 lead. On the stroke of half time the soldiers scored again through winger Perakum Fernando who touched down by the corner flag after following a long kick by Kapila Knowlton to give Army a commanding 28-5 lead at 'lemons'.The soldiers paid the penalty for going on the defensive in the second half. To add to their woes they lost the services of two key players flyhalf Ajit Peiris and Kenyan Edwin Shimanga due to injury. Kandy in grand win The star studded Kandy Sports Club turned in a power-packed display to score a convincing 36-20 win over CR and FC on Saturday at Longden Place. Kandy's forwards came up with a terrific display to outplay their counterparts in the loose with Jeeva Galgamuwa, Malith Silva, Pradeep Basnayake, Sean Wijesinghe and Tavita Tulagaese giving of their best. They also had an abundance of possession with Mallith Silva outhooking Anuranga Walpola in the set scrums while Pradeep Basnayake and Niranjan Ranasinghe towered above the rest in the lineouts. Coach-cum-player Samoon Tavita Tulagaese gave a magnificent performance and scored three superb tries while flanker Sean Wijesinghe and second rower Niranjan Ranasinghe scored the other two tries. Easy for Havelocks Havelocks Sports Club climbed upto the fourth place in the points table with a runaway 46-14 win over Police at Police Park on Sunday. The Havelocks three quarters gave a dazzling display of open rugby and crossed the opponents goal line on seven occasions. Centre Jason Jayasekera had a grand game by scoring four tries while Tongen Joseph Waqa too stand out with some daring runs. (R.S.) |
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