Radhika pilots Kandy SC to a 17-12 win over CR and FC

Chris Dhambarage

Dynamic full back Radhika Hettiarachchi produced another match winning performance to spearhead the defending champions Kandy Sports Club to a hard fought 17 points to 12 victory over arch rivals CR and FC in their SLRFU Caltex inter club ‘A’ division league rugby tournament match worked off at Longden Place yesterday.

Kandy SC thus went on to finish on top of the points table at the completion of the first round matches with an unblemished record.

CR and FC had to be satisfied with the runners up position and their ‘return’ clash at the Nittawela Stadium will probably decide the league champions for 2009.

Kandy SC collected their points from one try and four penalties after having led 11-6 at half time. CR and FC responded with two penalties and two drop goals.

Hettiarachchi fired across all four penalties for Kandy SC and also played a major role in both attack and defence with his clever tactics and booming kicks to touch that relieved pressure from his side.

Even then Kandy SC will be quite disappointed with the scoreline because they were able to score just a solitary try through their skipper Pradeep Liyanage in the first half.

The speedy wing three quarter sliced through the CR and FC defence in typical style after Fazil Marija had initiated the move with a great counter attack.

However thereafter it was a long hard struggle for Kandy SC who was somewhat outplayed in the line outs and in the set pieces. In fact CR and FC virtually dominated the entire second half with their territorial advantage but simply could not convert that into points. Skipper Ashen Karthelis and his set of forwards put up a fantastic performance to match the Kandy pack and even threatened to score on more than a couple of occasions.

But the home side lacked a little bit of inspiration to add the finishing touches after they had performed all the hard work. Even then Dav Anand kept CR and FC’s hopes alive to a great extent with his excellent execution of spot on place kicking that added a lot of pressure on the opposition.

He was right on target with two magnificent drop goals and also converted a good penalty to start proceedings for the home side. And when full back Reza Mubarak successfully converted his first penalty with six minutes from the final whistle CR and FC were well in sight of creating a sensation having reduced the margin to a couple of points 12-14.

However Kandy SC knew exactly what they were up against and was more disciplined in their game plan that made certain that they did not concede any penalties despite a final assault from a desperate CR and FC team.

In contrast Kandy SC showed their experience to hold their nerves during the dying moments of the game and Radhika Hettiarachchi rounded up things with his fourth successful penalty from 25 metres out.

Referee: Nizam Jamaldeen.