Navy in stunning 18-12 win over CH
CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club created a major upset when they toppled
the more fancied Colombo Hockey and Football Club by 18 points to 12 in
their SLRFU Caltex inter club ‘A’ division league rugby tournament first
round match worked off at Maitland Crescent yesterday.
The Sailors put up a tremendous performance as they went on to turn
the game in their favour while collecting their points from one goal,
one try, one drop goal and one penalty after having led 11 nil at half
time. CH and FC responded with one goal and one try.
Navy SC who are making their appearance in ‘A’ Division rugby after a
long lay off certainly came out with their best performance to register
their first victory in the tournament.
They of course went into this game at the back drop of some
uncertainty after having suffered a 5-36 defeat at the hands of the
defending champions Kandy Sports Club at the Nittawela Stadium in Kandy
and losing to Sri Lanka Army 10-15 at Welisara.
In contrast CH and FC took the field brimming with confidence
following their runaway 56-6 triumph against traditional rivals
Havelocks Sports Club last week at the same venue.
This time however CH and FC came under tremendous pressure from the
kick off and looked a completely different outfit as they made a series
of errors while trying to recover from the early setback.
Navy SC of course were able to bounce back from last week’s setback
as they made several inroads into the CH and FC territory from the kick
off. They always created scoring opportunities and were rewarded for
their hard work which gave them a morale boosting 11-nil lead at half
time.
Dynamic winger Nuwan Hettiarachchi scored their first try following a
clever piece of work which was followed by a neat drop goal from
Samantha Lakshan as Navy SC began to take control of the proceedings.
Eranda Weerakkody responded with a superb penalty a few minutes later
that helped his team consolidate their position.
Navy SC then almost sealed the game in their favour when they
extended their lead to a commanding 18 points to nil mid way in the
second half following their second try of the match with speedy wing
three quarter Niranjan Wickremarathne slicing through the entire CH and
FC defence. Even then CH and FC were not prepared to surrender quite
meekly as they launched a fresh attack in search of pulling off the
game. In fact their efforts almost brought them the desired results as
they were able to reduce the deficit to a solitary try (12-18) shortly
before the final whistle.
Number Eight Dilanka Wijesekera eventually broke the shackles for CH
and FC with a beautiful try and centre Avantha Hettiarachchi kept their
hopes alive while touching down near the corner flag. Full back Sajith
Bandara converted one try and the home side had staged a great comeback
to reduce the lead.
But Navy SC having done all the hard work held their nerves during
the crucial latter stages of the game and went on to pull off a
memorable victory at the end. D. Nimal refereed. |