Folks, have you heard of a team who conceded 22 penalties in a game which is almost twice higher than their opponents tally, and yet won the encounter?
Well, in the last game of Week 6 of the Nippon Paint Inter-Club Rugby League, CH&FC beat Police Sports Club 18-12 at the Colombo Racecourse, where the game saw a staggering 34 penalties conceded in total by both the teams, with the winners CH having the bulk of (22), and the Cops having (12). It was also a match to forget due to a plethora of errors, which really killed the game in all its departments. With this 4th win of the season the Gymkhana Club pipped the Havelocks to secure 3rd place as they sealed their spot in the Top 4 to contest in the Cup Championship alongside the oldest clubs in the island nation’s Rugby circuit – Kandy, CR and Havies.
There were no clear-cut favourites in the pre-game analysis: however, CH were at 4th, with Police at 5th place, giving stiff competition for the Gymkhana Club. If the Cops won the game with a 4-try bonus point denying CH the losing bonus point, they could have tied with 17 points apiece. However, Police failed to muster as the much needed ‘W’ in a game, which saw them playing like a completely different set up compared to their previous outing, where they performed with vigour.
CH ,even though walking away as winners, had a lacklustre performance. One key takeaway is how they managed to hold on to the game by a thread with just 13 men at times where continuous infringements/ill-discipline, especially while tackling, cost them with bumble-bee yellow cards shown by Referee Praneeth Weranga.
Hill Capital lad Mohamed Absal, who starred for Navy earlier, now donned the CH jersey to score the opening try of the game in the 5th minute through a quick offload orchestrated by Rohitha Rajapaksa and Ravindu Anjula. Former Kingswood kicking machine Hirusha Nethmina missed the extras; however, he soon put over a penalty to give his team a healthy lead. (CH 08-00 PSC)
Hirusha had an off-day with the boot, missing all his conversions. Nonetheless, his solitary penalty put him at 2nd place with 46 points in the league’s overall top points scorers list, just 1 point behind CR&FC’s Thenuka Nanayakkara who stands at 47 points.
The CH Forwards had a heavy day in the 20th minute – Gimhana Silva scored through a rolling maul, extras were missed. (CH 13-00 PSC).
Two water breaks were given in the 20th and 60th minute due to high humid conditions. Veteran Mithun Hapugoda replaced young gun Shane Hopwood in the 25th minute as a tactical change for Police. Hapugoda came in after the second half in the previous games. His inclusion made an impact in the latter part of the game.
Gihan Madusanka scored yet again with a well constructed rolling maul in the 26th minute, with Hirusha missing the kick – it was the last scoring done by the winners. (CH 18-00 PSC)
Police, grabbed the opportunity to score with open arms when CH were down to 13 men after Gihan Madusanka and Ravindu Anjula were sin-binned for dangerous tackles. Hirantha Perera scored with ease right under the posts in loose-play, Yohan Peiris put over the conversion at the brink of the short whistle. (CH 18-07 PSC).
Half Time – CH&FC 18 (3T, 1P) – Police SC 07 (1T, 1C)
Old fox Mithun Hapugoda scored the opening try for the Cops with 2 minutes into the second essay. Replacement stand-off Naveen Kanishka missed the extras. (CH 18-12 PSC). It was the only scoring done throughout the entire second half by both teams.
The hosts CH received two more yellow cards for foul play as Maliksha Perera and senior lad Dushmantha Priyadarshana were sent to the naughty chair.
The Gymkhana Club, led by Avantha Lee – the youngest Captain of the league – survived the 80 minutes playing with 13 players at a couple of crucial junctures. Police failed to turn the game into their favour with plenty of chances gone begging. Their coaching staff will undoubtedly have harsh words to be barked out in the post-game analysis, especially in lineouts, where the Cops failed miserably. However, Mohan Wimalarathne’s camp secured the losing bonus point.
Meanwhile Ravindu Anjula played a key role in the line-outs for CH – the former Pathana lad had a tremendous outing, despite conceding a yellow.
Match Breakdown :
Full Time
CH&FC 18 (3T, 1P) beat Police SC 12 (2T, 1C)
Black Knight Player of the Match – Ravindu Anjula (CH)
Yellow Cards – Gihan Madusanka, Ravindu Anjula, Maliksha Perera and Dushmantha Priyadarshana (All from CH&FC)
 and cops (12). It was also a match to forget due to a plethora of errors which really killed the game in all its departments. With this 4th win of the season the Gymkhana club pipped Havelock’s to secure 3rd place as they sealed their spot in the top-4 to contest in the cup championship alongside the oldest clubs in the island nations’ rugby circuit-Kandy, CR and Havies. ){kind=link}