CR struggle to beat Air Force

Ranjeeva Seneviratne

RUGBY:The star studded CR and FC went through several anxious moments before overcoming a gallant Air Force outfit by 23 points to 10 at Ratmalana on Friday.

CR’s power-packed forwards Pavithra Fernando, Dharmatilleke, Boteju, Terrance, Karthelis and Gayan Fernando were given a torrid time by the Air Force ‘eight’ with Saumya Silva, Kosala Ranasinghe, Soysa, Vithanage, Sirej Niranga and skipper Kurukulasuriya playing like terriers to match upto their famed counterparts in the loose.

The Red Shirts had a large share of possession from the line outs with Dharmatilleke and Gayan Fernando towering above the rest while the set scrums were shared between Air Force’s Vithanage and CR’s new hooker Suneth Chathuranga.

CR’s three quarters too could not make much headway as their star centres Mohamed Sheriff and Lasintha de Costa were at the receiving end of some fierce tackling by their opposite numbers Rushika Fernando and Charith Seneviratne which resulted in the two wingers Radhika Hettiarachchi and Nuwan Chamara being kept in cold storage, Rohan Fernando who manned the last line of defence for Air Force had a grand game.

He relieved pressure on several occasions with his booming kicks to touch and also joined the line to form the overlap and made some daring runs before he was brought down in the nick of time by the CR defenders. He capped a fine performance by scoring his team’s only try late in the second half.

CH - Police

CH and FC cruised to victory against Police on Sunday at Police Park with the policemen surrendering meekly.

The lads from Maitland Crescent could have won this game by a much bigger margin if not for poor ball handling by their three quarters and good spoiling work by the policemen.

CH had a major share of possession with young Achala Perera striking a shade faster than his vis-a-vis Chaminda Silva in the set scrums while the trio of Malewana, Sanjeewa and Ruwantillake had the edge over Police’s Wilson and Arachchige in the line outs.

But the CH three quarters failed to make use of the good ball that came their way as they either spilled passes at crucial moments or were tackled in possession by their opposite numbers. Even the sturdily built Fijian centre Jimmy Bolakoro failed to impress although making a few threatening runs.

Police’s fly half Harshana Wijeweera squandered the possession which came their way by kicking ahead aimlessly preventing hard running centre Nilusha Fernando and that powerful runner winger Hasith Niranga from testing the CH defence which looked vulnerable in their previous outing against Air Force.

Havelocks-Old Zahirians

Havelocks Sports Club made amends for their defeat at the hands of Police with a morale-boosting 48-nil win over Old Zahirians at Longden Place on Sunday.

The park clubs three quarters with their new halves combination hitting it off smoothly made maximum use of the ‘good ball’ which came their way by running the ball at every opportunity and scored six out of the eight tries with full back Anuskka Hasaranga converting four tries.

Kandy SC-Army

Defending champions Kandy Sports Club ran riot at Nittawela on Sunday to beat the Sri Lanka Army by the staggering margin of 66 points to 3.

Sri Lanka skipper Sanjeeva Jayasinghe scored three scintillating tries with his power-packed runs down the flank while No. 8 Dushanth Lewke and centre Pradeep Liyanage scored two tries each with the lads from Kandy crossing the opponents goal line on 10 occasions.

Full back Nalaka Weerakkody who had a grand game contributed 14 points by converting four tries and putting over a penalty and a drop goal before leaving the field late in the second half.