Army SC made a very convincing win against Air Force as they scored 5 tries to ward off the airmen 28 points to 13. Half-time scores read 8 points to 6 in favour of Army as they took the game by storm in the second half. The match was played at the Air Force grounds.
Air Force started the game as they looked to take the game up to Army, but were soon put on the back foot with Army gaining possession and winning themselves a penalty in lockable distance. Chamath Fernando made the easy 3 point kick. (03-00).
Air Force soon got the upper hand when Army were reduced to 14 and they too won themselves a penalty, which was taken to be kicked for points. Gayantha Iddamalgoda made no mistake in converting their penalty. (03-03)
The extreme heat was starting to take its toll as a number of injuries took place; many water breaks also had to be taken throughout, which interrupted the flow of the game. However Air Force too were reduced to 14 men and the overlap in defence paved way for Army’s first try off Madushka Chandrasekara. The try was scored off a good passage of play in the right corner, with Tomasi using his height as an advantage and made a good offload. (08-03)
Air Force were not willing to give up very easily on their home ground and opted to kick at the goal when awarded a penalty. Iddamalgoda made no mistake with his kick and Air Force had only a 2 point deficit at half time.
Army 08 (1T 1P) – Air Force 06 (2P)
The second half started in fashion for Army as Tomasi Caqusau scored an easy try off; some really good backline play from Army. The big Fijian only had to pick the ball from the ruck as Dhanushka Thalawaththa made most of the yards, but was stopped short close to the try line. Fernando missed the conversion. (13-06)
Tomasi almost scored his second try but was bumped off by the bigger James Tuteovuya who stopped a potentially easy try. However, discipline in the breakdown let Air Force down as they were reduced to 14 men again.
It did not take long for big James to cause damage as he intercepted a pass to score under the post. With Iddamalgoda’s successful conversion, the game was even stevens even though Air Force were a man short. (13-13)
Army were trying to get their lineouts right as they were stolen on a few occasions and it took a reasonable amount of time to score. However it did not matter much as Air Force only had themselves to blame when they were caught napping, as Ashan Bandara sniped his way round to score his try. The conversion was missed a third time as it went against the wind. (18-13)
Army rubbed more salt into the wounds of Air Force as their dominance in the breakdown forced many penalties and Air Force received their 3rd yellow card of the game. The lineout was clean this time around and Army scored off a rolling maul with Aravinda Karunaratne barging over. (23-13)
After receiving an aimless kick, Tomasi stepped his way past a few defenders and offloaded to Sachin Gamage, who made a lot of meters to score his try in the right corner. The kick was missed for the 5th time today and Air Force were completely nullified in their own grounds as they were not given any scoring opportunity. The game finished almost 2 hours after it started and Army were the happier team as they came off with a win following last week’s close defeat.
Full time- Army 28 (5T 1P) – Air Force 13 (1T 1C 2P)
- Player of the match – Tomasi Caqusau
- Referee – Gihan Yatawara
Army SC
Tries – Madhusanka Chandrasekara, Tomasi Caqusau, Ashan Bandara, Aravinda Karunaratne, Sachin Gamage
Penalty – Chamath Fernando
Yellow card – Upul AbeyratneAir Force SC
Try – James Tuteovuya
Conversions and Penalties – Gayantha Iddamalgoda (1C 2P)
Yellow cards – Rumesh Wasantha, Shamika Kaushan, Dinesh Weeraratne
