CR in superb fight-back to beat Police 25-16

Ranjeeva SENEVIRATNE

A superb second half rally by CR and FC enabled them to beat a gallant Police Sports Club outfit by 25 points (one goal, three tries, one penalty) to 16 (two tries, one drop goal and one penalty) in their Caltex ‘A’ Division League rugby match played at Longden Place yesterday after trailing 5-16 at the breather.

After being contained in the first half the CR ‘eight came up with a sterling display in the second half to outplay their counterparts in the loose. No. 8 Dushanth Lewke was a source of inspiration to his team-mates with his fiery loose play and capped a fine performance by scoring two tries.

He was ably supported by Anuja Perera, Ashen Karthelis, Danushka Perera, Danushka Perera and skipper Shamil Mohamed.

With the Red Shirts three quarters not making much headway in the first half they changed their tactics in the second half with fly half Dev Anand’s high kicks being very effective with Police full back Jeevan Amaradasa ‘knocking on’ on several occasions.

The Red Shirts surged into the lead in the 6th minute when off a second phase move winger Nishan de Silva fell over for an unconverted try by the left corner flag.

Two minutes later the policeman reduced the deficit when fly half Harshane Wijeweera dropped a goal from 30 metres out. In the 25th minute the policemen snatched the lead when flanker Nilusha Fernando chased a loose ball and picked up and scored by the right corner flag. Wijeweera failed to add the extra points. (Police 8-5).

Five minutes later CR winger Mohamed Jabbar’s clearance kick was smothered by his opposite number Danushka Pubudu who picked up the ball and fell over for an unconverted try by the left corner flag and Police led 13-5. Four minutes before the breather Police fly half Harshana Wijeweera fired across a 40 metre penalty and the Policemen led 16-5 at half time.

Then came CR’s magnificent fight-back. In the 4th minute after resumption CR won a 10 metre line out and No. 8 Dushanth Lewke scored a push over try by the left corner flag. Senthil Kumar missed the conversion (Police 16-10).

Ten minutes later CR were awarded a penalty 10 metres away from the Police goal line and scrum half Amjad Buksh took a quick short tap and slung out a pass to hooker Anuja Perera who barged through to touch down under the posts.

Senthil Kumar made no mistake with the conversion and CR took a 17-16 lead. In the 21st minute of the second half off a five metre scrum CR number eight Dushanth Lewke powered his way to score by the left corner flag.

Senthil Kumar missed the conversion (CR 22-16). Seven minutes later Senthil Kumar fired across a 30 metre penalty and the Red Shirts ran out worthy winners by 25 points to 16.

Referee: Aruna Jayasekera