CR and FC -Kandy match should be a thriller

Ranjeeva SENEVIRATNE

The CR and FC-Kandy SC encounters have always been closely fought out and another terrific tussle for supremacy can be expected when they clash in their first round Caltex ‘A’ Division League rugby match at Longden Place on July 16 (Saturday).

Defending champions the unbeaten Kandy SC who are striving to retain the Caltex ‘A’ Division League rugby title for a record 11th successive year remain unbeaten having beaten Havelocks (18-13), CH and FC (41-19), Army (51-6), Police (22-11), Air Force (18-11) and Navy (15-12) while CR and FC have overcome CH and FC (14-8), Havelocks (15-10), Army (24-12) and Air Force (27-22) and were held to a 18-all draw by Navy having also suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Police (10-11). Last year Kandy SC scored a convincing 26-12 win in the first round game at Nittawela while in the return match at Longden Place a spectacular try by winger Vishwamithra Jayasinghe after a breathtaking 80-metre run saw CR score a thrilling 16-14 win but the lads from Kandy managed to retain the title by edging out the Red Shirts by 0.50 points having scored more tries in the league.

Up front a terrific battle could be expected with CR’s power-packed ‘eight’ especially Dunstan de Silva, Sharo Fernando, Ishan Noor, Henry Terrence, Dushanth Lewke and the omnipresent flanker Chilanka Samaraweera being confronted by equally good forwards in Kishore Jehan, Achala Perera, Senaka Bandara, Dinesh Sanjeewa, Kasun de Silva and Sajith Saranga. The set scrums should be shared between Kandy SC’s Achala Perera and CR’s Mohamed Rizwan while in the line outs the Kandy trio of Bandara, Sanjeewa and Saranga have the edge over the CR duo of Noor and Sharo Fernando.

Kandy SC boast of a superior three quarter-line. The halves combination of Roshan Weeraratne and Fazil Marija have hit it off smoothly while centres Pradeep Liyanage, Gayan Weeraratne and wingers Sanjeewa Jayasinghe, Mohamed Jabbar should test the CR defence to the hilt with their daring runs.

Last year’s Antonian skipper Tharindu Chanaka will be manning the last line of defence for Kandy SC.

With CR’s regular, fly half Nigel Ratwatte still on the injured list Reza Mubarak will continue to occupy the pivotal fly half berth and will pair off with nippy scrum half Srinath Sooriyabandara and CR will be hoping that the halves combination will click on Saturday as they have two hard runners in centres Mushin Faleel and Shabbir Mohamed in addition to dashing winger Vishwamithra Jayasinghe with full back Mohamed Sheriff joining the line to form the overlap.

A victory for Kandy SC will help them to preserve their unbeaten record while CR and FC will go all out to topple Kandy SC and stay in contention for the ‘A’ Division League Title.

Probable Teams:

CR AND FC: Henry Terrence or Shehan Dimitri, Mohamed Rizwan, Dunstan de Silva, Ishan Noor, Sharo Fernando, Gayan Ratnage, Chilanka Samaraweera, Dushanth Lewke (captain), Srinath Sooriyabandara and Reza Mubarak, Vishwamithra Jayasinghe, Mushin Faleel, Shabbir Mohamed, Ashen de Costa, Mohamed Sheriff.

KANDY SC: Kishore Jehan, Achala Perera, Kasun Yasaisuru, Senaka Bandara, Dinesh Sanjeewa, Buddhika Thalagampola (captain) or Aravinda Udangawa, Kasun de Silva, Sajith Saranga, Roshan Weeraratne and Fazil Marija, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe, Gayan Weeraratne, Pradeep Liyanage, Mohamed Jabbar, Tharindu Chanaka.