Despite the second-half rally by the Police SC, CR & FC held their nerve to register a commanding 46 – 22 points victory in the fifth-week clash of the Maliban Inter-Club ‘A’ Division Rugby League 2025/26, held at the Police Park yesterday (28th).
The visitors, CR & FC, started the proceedings with a deep kickoff under the bright sky over Police Park. After three minutes of play, CR received a box kick and in the standoff, Zubair Doray created an opportunity with a spectacular break in the defence line. After making a good 30 – 40 metres, the ball worked through the line and the blindside winger Pasindu Bandara penetrated through the defence to score the first try of the game. Thenuka Nanayakkara made a terrific kick from the far corner which curved at the last second to find the right direction. (CR & FC 07 – 00 Police)
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Straightaway from the restart, CR conceded a couple of penalties for offside play and for using hands in a ruck. Cops never wanted any further invitation to go at points, as it was a straightforward chance. Police place kicker Pasindu Tharuka nailed the easy penalty kick by cutting the deficit to just four points. (CR & FC 07 – 03 Police)
After a silence of fifteen minutes, CR fullback Tharindu made a vital breakthrough with his eye-catching side steps after gaining around 15 metres. Then the ball was switched to Manilka Ruberu, who was the acting flyhalf at the time. He spotted a no man’s land at the backside of the police defence and executed a timely punt kick over the cops. Along with the kick, CR winger Chemod Muthunayake started a blistering chase, and the bounce favoured him to grab the rebound ball just before he went across the try line. (CR & FC 14 – 03 Police)
After a few minutes, police were penalised for not releasing the ball carrier, and CR received a penalty inside from their own half. Dooray’s game reading was top notch, and he took a quick tap as Police wasn’t ready for a quick attack. After making some good metres, he took the last defender and offloaded the ball to the supporting player Muthunayake, who made another sprint to cross over for his second try of the game from the left corner. (CR & FC 17 – 03 Police)
During the dying stages of the first half, Police had a few chances to score. But CR displayed a solid defence, and the opportunities went begging until the short whistle. Then CR happily walked off the grounds for the lemons.
Halftime: CR & FC 17 (3 T, 1 C) – Police SC 03 (1 P)
The hosts made a deep kick-off in the second half, and later CR earned a penalty at a scrum inside the 22-metre line of Police territory courtesy of the combined effort of the forwards. By following CR’s typical attacking strategy, a lineout was followed by a powerful rolling maul. Suddenly the No. 08 Omalla Gunaratha broke away from behind, and even the aggregate power of the police defence couldn’t match the individual brilliance of the big fellow. (CR & FC 22 – 03 Police)
Just after Omalka’s heroics, he was sin-binned by the referee, Raveen Alexander, due to a dangerous tackle around the neck area by putting Police players in a comfortable zone.
After some interesting play, the CR forwards executed a brilliant counter-attack to gain the position, and the replacement scrum half Viduna Amaneth straightaway made an impact on the game by picking up the ball and running all the way to score the fifth try for the red shirts. The reliable kicker, Dooray made no mistakes with the conversion. (CR & FC 29-03 Police)
During the initial phase of the second half, the Red Shirts looked like a different brigade and accelerated their rate of scoring without giving any breathing space to the cops.
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Then Police attacked deep into the CR & FC territory and received a five-metre lineout. The absence of Omalka was clearly visible on the field as CR defence struggled against the heroics of the cops. During the phase, a series of penalties conceded the red zone by CR, and finally the referee awarded a penalty try along with a yellow card to Yoshitha Sithumina. (CR & FC 29 – 10 Police)
But CR had relief as Omalka returned to the field just after the second yellow card. A few moments later, police attacked deep into the CR territory, and suddenly they kicked the ball by targeting the winger. The bounce didn’t favour the police chaser, but determined Sujan Kodithuwakku flew to the sky and tapped the ball backwards, which was just about to cross the deadline. Police showcased their excellent chemistry among the players as Pasindu Tharuka was spot-on with the tapped and grounded it by giving the second try to the cops. (CR & FC 29 – 15 Police)
Shortly after the try, police grabbed a knocked-on ball at the midway mark, and kicked over the head of the defence line by following the strategy that was fruitful during the last ten minutes. The ball rolled near to the 5-metre line of CR territory, and the police chasers applied tremendous pressure on the ball picker of CR and managed to regain the ball. When the CR defence was all over the place, the police centre Rukshan Madhushanka dived over the tryline without any sort of disturbance by the defenders. Prince Chamara added the extras by making the game an interesting battle out of nowhere. (CR & FC 29 – 22 Police)
During this phase of the game, Police took maximum advantage of the couple of yellow cards of CR with a remarkable comeback with three tries. After restoring to 15 men, CR regrouped and launched a fierce attack. During the course, Police conceded a crucial penalty in front of the goalpost at a scrummage. It followed with another penalty under not 10 meters law. The brain game of CR came into play, and without any heroics, they opted for points with a penalty kick. As usual, Thenuka Nanayakkara was brilliant with the kick and extended the lead beyond a converted try. (CR & FC 32 – 22 Police)
Then, CR propelled a scrum with great power inside the police half, and the skipper, Lasindu Karunathilaka, made a break and made a pop pass to his supporting player, Viduna Amaneth. He displayed his attacking flair with brilliant side-stepping and crossed the tryline again for a crucial try the game went beyond the reach of the cops. Thenuka Nanayakkara added the extras with an easy kick. (CR & FC 39 – 22 Police)
After a rapid-fire phase of play, Yoshitha Suthumina received his second yellow card for a high tackle, and subsequently a red card was issued. With that numerical and mental advantage, Police searched for the bonus point try, as the game was already in the bag of CR with only a few minutes left to play. Suddenly, the cops went for a long cut-out pass and CR and FC three-quarters picked the loose ball. Thenuka Nanayakkara and Pasindu Bandara displayed magnificent ball-handling skills as Nanayakkara planted another try in the dying stage of the game. Thenuka Nanayakkara nailed the conversion of his try and sealed the deal as the referee blew the long whistle. (CR & FC 46 – 22 Police)
Full Time: CR & FC 46 (7 T, 4 C, 1 P) – Police SC 22 (2 T, 1 PT, 1 C, 1 P)
- Swisstek Player of the Match: Chemod Muthunayake (CR & FC)
Points Breakdown
CR & FC – 46
Chemod Muthunayake 2 T, Pasindu Bandara 1 T, Omalla Gunaratha 1 T, Viduna Amaneth 2 T, Thenuka Nanayakkara 1 T, 4 C, 1 P,
Police Sports Club – 22
Pasindu Tharuka 1 T 1 P, Rukshan Madhushanka 1 T, Prince chamara 1 C, Penalty Try
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