Kandy SC went through some real anxious moments before they pulled off a thrilling 13-11 victory over arch-rivals CR and FC in an enthralling SLR Nippon Paint Inter-Club League Rugby Tournament first-round match played at Longden Place.
Seasoned campaigner Tharinda Ratwatte was the match winner for Kandy SC as he fired across a crucial penalty few minutes before the final whistle to help his team record their second successive victory in the current season.
In fact, Ratwatte did all the scoring for Kandy SC as he planted their solitary try earlier in the 54th minute and did the conversion after having opened the scoring with a penalty in the 10th minute. However, CR and FC had a great chance of registering what would have a memorable win in their Centenary Year when Vageesha Weerasinghe touched down in the 64th minute to put his side in front.
Earlier, CR and FC kept their hopes alive with Mohan Chathura converting two vital penalties in the second half before the reliable Ratwatte held his nerve and delivered the final blow with a match winning penalty.
Havelock SC v Air Force SC
Meanwhile, Havelock SC were stretched to the maximum before they managed to edge out Air Force SC 36-35 in another pulsating SLR Nippon Paint Inter-Club League Rugby Tournament match played at Ratmalana.
The Havies collected their points from four goals, one try and one penalty after having led 19-6 at half time while the Airmen responded with two goals, one penalty goal, one try, and three penalties.
Randitha Warnapura, Dinupa Senavirathne, Mithun Hapugoda, Azmeer Fajudeen and Shean Dias scored a try each for the winners with Sandesh Jayawickrema adding the extra points and put over the penalty.
Meanwhile, Gayantha Iddamalgoda, Ramitha De Silva and Parakrama Rathnayake scored a try each for Air Force SC and Nuwan Perera converted two tries and fired across three penalties.
After an ordinary first-half performance, Air Force SC came back firing on all cylinders in the latter stages with Iddamalgoda’s magnificent try reducing the margin to a solitary point.
Havelock SC were under tremendous pressure for the second successive week as they also conceded a penalty try to their opponents early in the second half and were handed four yellow cards as well by Referee Gihan Yatawara.
CH and FC v Navy SC
The CH and FC bounced back into recognition after last week’s setback as they went on to beat Navy SC 34-20 in another SLR Nippon Paint Inter-Club League Rugby Tournament first-round game played at the Racecourse Grounds in Colombo.
Even then, CH and FC were under huge amounts of pressure going into the later stages of the game as they were reduced to 13-men after they were handed three successive yellow cards in the space of five minutes by Referee Raveen Alexander. But fortunately for CH and FC, they had the numerical disadvantage only for a short period and they eventually scraped through for a hard-fought victory.
Army SC vs Police SC
In another absorbing encounter, Army SC snatched a thrilling 25-23 victory over Police SC in their 2022/23 SLR Nippon Paint Inter-Club League Rugby Tournament first-round match played at Ratmalana.
Army SC collected their points from one goal, three tries and one penalty after leading 12-10 at half time while Police SC responded with two goals and three penalties.
Sachin Gamage, Sudaraka Dikkumbura, Mohamed Rifan and Nalaka Maduranga scored a try each for Army SC while Dilshan Perera converted one try and put over a penalty.
For Police SC, Vihanga Pivithuru and Mohan Wimalarathne scored a try each while Shaveen Jayawardena converted both tries and fired across three good penalties.
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| Action from the match between Havelock SC and Air Force SC |
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| Action from the match between CR and FC and Kandy SC |
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