Will Havelocks be third time lucky?

Ranjeeva SENEVIRATNE

Will Havelocks be third time lucky? The answer to this question will be found only this evening when traditional rivals CR and FC and Havelocks Sports Club clash in the semi-finals of the Caltex Inter-Club knock-out tournament for the Clifford Cup at Longdon Place.

CR and FC won both matches of the Caltex ‘A’ Division League by 13-9 and 32-5 but today the Red Shirts will confront a park club outfit which will be hell bent on beating them and entering the Clifford Cup final.

CR and FC skipper Shamil Mohamed, fly half Ashan de Costa and winger Dinesh Kumara have recovered from their injuries and will return to the side for today’s match.

However the Red Shirts will miss the services of Mohamed Sheriff who is still on the injured list and flanker Pavithra Fernando who is abroad.

Up front a terrific tussle for supremacy can be expected with the power-packed forwards Shamil Mohamed, Boteju, Terrance, Karthelis, Kasun de Silva and Lewke being confronted by the marauding Havelocks ‘eight’ especially Shafi Hassen, Rajiv Perera, Jayasena, Amarasinghe, Ganapathy and Sharo Fernando.

The set scrums should be shared between Havelocks’ Rajiv Perera and CR’s Anuja Perera while in the line outs the Havelocks duo of Jayasena and Amerasinghe have the edge over CR’s solitary jumper Ashen Karthelis.

CR with a superior back division should make the maximum use of the possession which comes their way as they have an experienced halves combination in Amjad Buksh and Ashan de Costa while centres Lasintha de Costa and Niroshan Karunanayake are capable of tearing apart the Park Clubs’ defence with their probing runs while on the wings they will have the services of two powerful runners in Dinesh Kumara and Mohamed Jabbar.

Havelocks’ strength lie with their forwards and fly half Wasim Thajudeen’s long kicks to touch should give them territorial advantage.

CR and FC Shamil Mohamed (Captain), Anuja Perera or Navin Wijetunge, Danushka Boteju, Henry Terrence, Ashen Karthelis, Diren Warnakulasuriya, Kasun de Silva, Dushanth Lewke, Amjad Buksh and Ashan de Costa, Dinesh Kumara, Lasintha de Costa, Niroshan Karunanayake Mohamed Jabbar, Reza Mubarak.

Havelocks Shafi Hassen, Rajiv Perera, Kasun Yasaisuru, Kavinda Jayasena (Captain), Chathuranga Amarasinghe, Sharo Fernando, Poorneka Delpachithra, Rajiv Ganapathy, Samantha Lakshan and Wasim Thajudeen, Zakir Badurdeen, Harsha Weerakkody, Nuwan Samith, Chanaka Fonseka, Dilip Mathruwan.