Kandy SC clinch Rugby Double

S M Jiffry Abdeen - Kandy sports correspondent

Kandy Sports Club once again displayed their dominance of local rugby scene by annexing the double of winning both the Caltex League Championship and the Clifford Cup knock-out tournaments this year.

They have now won the league title 11 years in a row and the Clifford Cup Tournament five years in a row, hardly giving the other clubs a chance to wrest the rugby’s plums.

They beat Navy Sports Club by the thinnest of margins 17-16 in Colombo last Saturday to take the Clifford Cup for the 17th time since 1992 – the year they won this title for the first team.

No other club had ever won this cup so many times and what is most remarkable is they have done it within a short space of 19 years.

Kandy’s record in this tournament is that they first won the Clifford Cup in 1992 by beating police 22-9 in the final. They were knocked out in the semi-finals in 1994 while the tournament was not held in 1998.

There was a break of one year when they did not participate in 2006 as a protest for shifting of this tournament to Colombo.

But the following year in 2007 this tournament at least the matches in which Kandy played was shifted back to Kandy when Nimal Lewke Senior Deputy Inspector General – Wayamba Province was the President of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union – a move which was well appreciated by the rugby fans in the hill capital.

With this Kandy Sports Club once again picked up their unbeaten run which they have been doing since 1999.

Winning the trophies this year has been most difficult for Kandy Sports Club. They have been beset with problems which they never expected. Cross overs, injuries, suspension of their key players provided them with a challenge which other teams would have found in surmountable. But not Kandy Sports Club who took everything in it stride and displayed the Kandyan grit which is inborn in them. They did it in their style.

During the league season having six of the points which they earned in their match against CH and FC, following a court order, they were put under great pressure to win their last match against a rejuvenated Havelocks Sports Club having the services of two Tongan ruggerites. But Kandy SC won 23-12 and lifted the title.

Even in the Clifford Cup tournament, like any other club they had to play their matches at a neutral venue and the final down in Colombo against Sri Lanka Navy who had beaten them outside Kandy for the past three occasions in the League Championship.

But Kandy Sports Club once again displayed their guts and courage to win the title. Playing a Major role for Kandy this season was second row forward and stand in skipper Senaka Bandara – an old Kingswoodian who hardly made any impact in the schools circuit but blossomed out at Club level. A very quiet personality but with excellent qualities of leadership.

Stand off Fazit Marija the play maker also gave out his best for the club and the others who stood out were Gayan Weeraratne, his younger brother Roshan, Kishore Tehan, Kasun de Silva, Dinesh Sanjeewa, Sajith Saranga, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe (in his farewell season), Mohamed Jaffar, Pradeep Liyanage, Dinesh Kumara and Asitha Ratnayake.

Kandy Sports Club has done the hill capital proud and they are the only outstanding club at top level club circuit and they deserve much more than they have received.