CR-Havelocks clash in Clifford Cup final

RUGBY: Arch rivals Ceylonese Rugby and Football club and Havelocks Sports Club will clash in the final of the Clifford cup - club rugby's richest prize on August 12 (Saturday) at Longden Place.

Both clubs have not laid their hands on the symbol of rugby supremacy - the Clifford Cup for a long time. The Red Shirts last won the cup in 1989 when under the leadership of Sheham Siddik they edged out Navy by 6 points to 3 in the final while the Park Club last bagged the trophy in 1981 led by Angelo Wickremaratne when it was on offer to the league champions.

CR- AIR FORCE

In the first semi-final played on Saturday CR and FC went through several anxious moments before overcoming a gallant Air Force outfit by 21 points to 13 at Longden Place.

CRs power-packed forwards Pavithra Fernando, Karthelis, Swarnatillake, Anuja Perera, Dharmatilleke and Senthil Kumar were given a torrid time by the Air Force 'eight' with Saumya Silva, Soysa, Bandara, Kurukulasuriya, Ediriweera and Ranasinghe playing like terriers to match upto their famed counterparts in the loose.

The CR three quarters could not make much headway as fly half Omar Sariffodeen was at the receiving end of some fierce tackling by the Air Force flankers Ediriweera and Kurukulasuriya. CRs centres Mohamed Sheriff and Udaya Hettiarachchi too were brought down time and again by their opposite numbers Ruchira Fernando and Suranga Arunashantha with some bone-crunching tackles.

The Airmen even had the honour of taking a 13-11 lead midway in the second half when fly half Nalin Sirisena fired across two 35 metre penalties before the Red Shirts came back storming in the last 20 minutes to score two unconverted tries through Swarnatilleke and Pavithra Fernando to snatch a face-saving 21-13 win much to the relief of their supporters.

The Red Shirts went into the game sans five regulars Viraj Prasantha, Anuranga Walpola, Danushka Boteju, Suranga Pushpakumara and Savantha de Saram and also missed the guidance of their coach Grant Dwyer who has gone back to Australia.

CH-Havelocks

On Sunday Havelocks Sports Club withstood a fierce challenge from CH and FC in the last 15 minutes to storm into the final with a 15-10 win.

After being outplayed for a major part of the game CH moved full back Rizan Saldin to the fly half berth in the last 15 minutes and he set the three quarters in motion and they made some threatening moves but desperate tackling by the Havelocks centres Ruwan Suranga and Lalindra Rodrigo and flanker T. D. Seneviratne prevented them from crossing the Park Club's goal line.

Earlier fly half Harshana Wijeweera squandered 'good ball' which came their way by kicking ahead aimlessly. The park club's forwards especially Shefi Hassen, Amarasinghe, Tyronne Harrison, Seneviratne, Dissanayake and Jayasuriya gave a sterling display in the loose to match upto CH's powerful forwards Ekanayake, Senarath Wijesekera, Rajiv Ganapathy, Achala Perera and Skipper Bertie Jayasekera.

In the set scrums CH's Achala Perera struck a shade faster than his vis-a-vis Rajiv Perera while in the line outs the Havelocks trio of Amerasinghe, Boteju and Jayasuriya towered above the rest.

With the halves combination of Dilan de Zoysa and Sajith Bandara hitting it off smoothly the Park Club worked their three quarters at every turn.

In the 10th minute of the second half they scored a beautiful try when centre Lalindra Rodrigo made a break off a three quarter move in mid field and slung out a pass to co-centre Ruwan Suranga who sped over 20 metres before slinging out a pass to flanker T. D. Seneviratne who touched down under the posts.

Flanker T. D. Seneviratne who had an excellent game was richly rewarded when he crashed through for his second try off a quick short tap. CH and FC paid dearly for playing Harshana Wijeweera in the pivotal fly half berth. He wasted the hard earned possession by the forwards by kicking ahead aimlessly before he was moved to the full back position in the last 15 minutes.

(R.S.)