Navy edge out Air Force - 6/5

Chris Dhambarage

Favourites Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club struggled to beat a spirited Sri Lanka Air Force outfit by 6 points (2 penalties) to 5 points (1 try) in a thrilling Caltex inter-club ‘A’ Division league rugby tournament match worked off at Ratmalana yesterday.

Navy SC finally scraped home with two crucial penalties while the Airmen had the satisfaction of scoring the only try of the match with all scoring been done in the first half.

Navy SC who had a fantastic season last year looked in complete disarray as they went through some real anxious moments while making a couple of crucial mistakes under tremendous pressure.

They almost surrendered when they conceded a series of penalties during injury time following some poor ball handling by the three quarters. The home side then grabbed the opportunity to launch a fierce assault where they came closer to scoring on more than a couple of occasions under fading light.

However the Navy SC forwards made amends with a solid defence where they held on determinedly for quite some time while spoiling a number of threatening moves. The Airmen also missed a couple of penalties both within kicking range and with that their hopes of creating a major upset was completely shattered.

Earlier Navy SC made a cautious start and showed signs of settling down to play their usual brand of attacking rugby which they displayed throughout last year. Their superior set of forwards had the better of the exchanges in both line outs and in the set pieces.

In addition fly half Dev Anand was in excellent form as he converted two superb penalties to put Navy SC in front both from 35 metres out in the 20th and 34th minute respectively. In between Air Force SC were able to create some panic in the Navy SC defence while counter attacking twice from their own territory. However their finest moment in the match came when they touched down shortly before half time following a superb piece of work from their three quarters.

Air Force SC won possession from a line-out well inside their opponents territory and winger Pubudu Kodagoda powered his way and dived over for a spectacular try near the corner flag. Centre Charith Seneviratne missed the conversion but it turned out to be crucial at the end as they eventually went down by a solitary point.

Referee: Pradeep Fernando.