Navy ran in seven tries to secure an important bonus point victory against the struggling Police SC in their Dialog Rugby League 2017/2018 encounter, worked off at Police Park earlier this evening. Sailors scored 45 points while the cops managed to score only 26 points.
Navy came in to this game after moral boosting victories in the second round against Army SC and CH & FC. Navy missed the services of Dulanjana Wijesinghe and Lahiru Wishwajith and the bench strength of Navy was tested in this game.
Both teams managed to keep possession in the early stages of the game but a box kick from Police halfback Hashan Gomes was fumbled by Mohamed Abzal in their own 22 meter line and was collected by the Police winger Janith Chandimal as he went over in the corner to open scoring for the cops. Sandesh Jayawickrama was unable to add the extras with his conversion kick as the ball hit the left upright. (Police 05-00 Navy)
Navy managed to hit back straight away with a try from the big man Stephan Gregory, from a pick and drive, as he overpowered the Police defenders to find the white wash.
Navy doubled their score with a stunning try from their fullback and leading point scorer of this season Thilina Weerasinghe as he ran a good 60 meters, bamboozling Police defenders to score in the left corner. Surprisingly Weerasinghe couldn’t convert both tries as his kicks went astray.
Police had few opportunities with Jayawickrama missing a penalty kick and drop goal attempt but the blindside winger Janith Chanaka ran around the Navy defenders with lightning speed to level the score and Jayawickrama added the extra two points to put Police in the lead. (Police 12-10 Navy)
Navy in the dying stages of the first half launched a final attack using their heavy forwards. Continuous phases of pick and drives were defended by the cops but the halfback Harsha Maduranga changed the direction of the attack. Bulky Prop forward Charith Silva benefited from it as he found space to sneak in to the try line to put his side back in to the lead. Weerasinghe bisected the uprights to add the extras.
Half Time – Police 12 (2T, 1C) – 17 (3T, 1C) Navy
Navy managed to change the momentum of the game with a try straight after the half time when Stephan Gregory put up another superb attacking display as he went over for the second try of the game by overpowering the Police defender. Weerasinghe was spot on with his conversion.
Navy brought in Buddima Piyarathne in the second half of the game and he made a big impact straight away with a dashing run from their own 22 meter and then made a chip kick which he collected himself and offloaded the ball to the support player Supun Dilshan to score under the post. Weerasinghe had an easy conversion. (Police 12-31 Navy)
Navy had a setback when their No 08 Raveen De Silva was sent to the sin bin for collapsing the maul and Police got the maximum advantage of it as they scored through Udaya Sanjula. Jayawickrama bisected the uprights from a difficult angle to reduce the deficit.
Police skipper Rasith Silva was sent to the sin bin for foul play. With this yellow card chances of a comeback were slim for the cops.
Navy made the killer blow with two back to back tires. Impact player Piyarathne made another telling move with his pace in the corner opening up gaps and offloaded to Thilina Weerasinghe to score an easy try. He managed to convert his own try.
Scrum half Harsha Maduranga managed to find some space in the Police defence and went over to score the 7th try of the game for the sailors. Weerasinghe bisected the uprights with ease to add the extras.
Janith Lakasara of Navy received a yellow card in the final stages of the game and Police managed to score their 4th try in the last move of the game through their winger Janith Chanaka as he scored near the left corner to clinch a bonus point to his team. Jayawickrama managed to covert this difficult kick.
Full Time – Police 26 (4T, 3C) – 45 (7T, 5C) Navy
ThePapare.com: Player of the Match: Stephan Gregory (Navy SC)
The Score Breakdown
Police SC 26 (12) 4T, 3C
Janith Chanaka 2T Janith Chandimal 1T Udaya Sanjula 1T
Sandesh Jayawickrama 3CNavy SC 45 (17) 7T, 5C
Stephan Gregory 2T Thilina Weerasinghe 2T, 5C
Charith Silva 1T
Supun Dilshan 1T Harsha Maduranga 1TBooking (yellow cards): Raveen De Silva (Navy), Janith Lakasara (Navy) and Rasith Silva (Police)
