Last year’s Knockout Champions, Police Sports Club, secured their first win of the season with a narrow 23 points (one goal, two tries, two penalties) to 20 (one goal, two tries, one penalty) victory over Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club in an intense Mastercard ‘A’ Division Rugby Tournament match at Welisara yesterday after leading 10-7 at halftime.
The star of the match was Yehan Bulathsinhalage, who contributed 13 points to Police SC’s success, despite missing two conversion attempts. His penalty kicks proved to be the difference in the hard-fought victory.
The match began with Navy taking an early lead in the 17th minute, as winger Senura Peiris touched down under the posts. Isuru Kongahawatta’s successful conversion saw the Sailors ahead 7-0. Police SC responded in the 25th minute, with Udaya Sanjula scoring the first try for the Corps. Bulathsinhalage followed up with a try of his own but missed the conversion, leaving Police SC with a 10-7 lead at the break.
A brilliant turnover from Navy’s Denuwan Wickramarachchi allowed the Sailors to win a scrum, giving them a slight momentum boost heading into halftime.
In the second half, Police SC came out strong, and in the 46th minute, big prop forward Amjad Fawmy bulldozed his way through the Navy defense to score a try near the left post. Bulathsinhalage’s successful conversion extended the lead to 17-7.
However, referee Ishanka Abeykoon issued a final warning to Police SC’s skipper Mohan Wimalaratne, following a dispute with number 9 Primesh Dhanushka. Shortly after, Navy reduced the deficit with a 22-meter penalty kick from Kongahawatta, making the score 17-10 in favour of Police SC in the 51st minute.
Police SC quickly responded with a long-range penalty kick from Bulathsinhalage in the 53rd minute, stretching their lead to 20-10. However, the Corps were temporarily down to 14 men after Dhanushka was sin-binned in the 57th minute.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Police SC held their ground, but Navy made a brilliant response in the 60th minute. After a series of errors, Navy managed to score a try in the right corner through Dinesh Lakmal. The try went unconverted, but it narrowed the gap to 20-15.
Following the sin-bin period, Police SC made a couple of changes, with Vihanga Randeepa replacing Dhanushka and Deshan Fernando being replaced by Chamoda Seneviratne. In the 71st minute, Bulathsinhalage added three more points with a penalty, pushing Police SC’s lead to 23-15.
Navy fought back in the dying moments, scoring a try and conversion to reduce the deficit to 23-20. However, despite a valiant effort, the Sailors could not get over the line, and the match ended with a three-point margin. Referee Ishanka Abeykoon blew the final whistle, sealing Police SC’s first victory of the season with a hard-fought 23-20 win.
SAJEEWA JAYAKODY