The final game of Week 3 in the Nippon Paint Rugby League 2023/24 took place today at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium between Kandy SC and Police SC. In a game of two halves, the defending champions managed to walk out with the win 33-19.
Kandy SC was attacking from the get-go, but the Cops managed to defend well during the first 15 minutes of the game. In the 17th minute, the speedster from Kandy Danushka Ranjan, who started the game, managed to find space and found the whitewash from the right corner. Tarinda Rattwatte unfortunately missed his first conversion of the game (KSC 05 – 00 PSC)
5 minutes after the first try, the Police managed to find some space and enter the 22m territory of the hosts. Kandy did manage to steal the ball, but a loose pass and a fumble from Ranjan gave enough room for Amjad Fawmy to collect the ball and score the try. Prince Chamara converted the try and gave his team the lead (KSC 05 – 07 PSC)
The lead for the visitors didn’t last long as Kandy bounced back straight away. After the Cops conceded a penalty from their half, a thumping Rattwatte kick took them close to the try line. The forwards did the rest for Kandy as Dilshan Fareed touched down for the try after a powerful rolling maul from the defending champions. Rattwatte converted this time to increase the lead (KSC 12 – 07 PSC)
Kandy didn’t stop from just one try after having to trail for the first time in the game. A lovely up and under from Srinath Sooriyabandara from their half was collected brilliantly by T.Rattwatte, who had no one in front of him as he just ran with full steam to score the 3rd try for his team. He converted it himself to further increase their tally of points (KSC 19 – 07 PSC)
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Just before the halftime break, Fawmy, the try scorer for Police, was sent to the sin bin. The hosts took advantage of this as they went for the territory kick, and then the lineout as an action replay from their 2nd try meant Fareed went over for a second time in the game, which also secured the bonus point for the defending champs. Rattwatte converted, and at half time, the scoreline was 26-07, with Kandy SC firmly on top (KSC 26 – 07)
Half Time : Kandy SC 26 – 07 Police SC
Just 5 minutes into the second half, Jason Dissanayake was shown a yellow card, which opened the doors for the Police to make a comeback. The visitors made use of the extra man available as they pushed their way into Kandy territory, and Sachith Silva’s quick pick and go from the ruck gave him ample space in front to score a try underneath the posts. Chamara converted the try to cut the deficit down to 12 (KSC 26 – 14 PSC)
Police made further inroads, making use of the numbers advantage as just 4 minutes later, the experienced campaigner Dulanjana Wijesinghe, who was brought into the game in the second half, managed to stretch his way over the line to bring his team well back into this encounter as Kandy started to feel the heat big time. Unfortunately, Chamara couldn’t back it up as he missed the conversion, but it was still just a 7-point game (KSC 26 – 19 PSC)
With their backs against the wall slightly, Kandy found some rhythm with quick and smooth passing. Although the Cops turned it over, Primesh Danushka, the half-back for the Police, went for the get-out-of-jail kick, and it was charged down and collected by T.Rattwatte and just like last time, there was no one to stop him. He converted the try once again, and that proved to be the lethal final blow as the Police couldn’t recover after that (KSC 33 – 19 PSC)
With this win, Kandy SC has three wins on the trot, while Police have just one win from three games. T.Rattwatte, who was the star and impact player of the game with two phenomenal tries and four conversions to his name, was adjudged Black Knight Player of the Match.
Full Time : Kandy SC 33 (5T 4C) beat Police SC 19 (3T 2C)
Black Knight Player of the Match : Tarinda Rattwatte (Kandy SC)
Points Breakdown
Kandy SC : Tarinda Ratwatte 2T 4C, Dilshan Fareed 2T, Danushka Ranjan 1T
Police SC : Sachith Silva 1T, Amjad Fawmy 1T, Dulanjana Wijesinghe 1T, Prince Chamara 2C
