Kandy Sports Club survived a mighty scare to secure a hard-fought 27-20 victory over the Police in the Dialog Rugby League 2018/19 at Police Park on Saturday.
As the score line suggests, Kandy were made to work hard for this win but outscored the opponents four tries to three. Police however deserve plenty of credit for the effort as they dominated for large periods – with their second half performance particularly impressive. Kandy launched the foundations of the victory in the first half. Police could not pull off the win but will leave with a losing bonus point which they secured in the game’s dying moments.
Kandy got the game off to a flying start, winning a penalty for offside and playing a few phases with the advantage before Nigel sent Thilina Wijesinghe with a lovely waited pass to execute the perfect grubber for Vishwamithra Jayasinghe to cross over the line. Thilina made things easy with the conversion.
It took just five minutes before Kandy gave themselves some breathing space once again, with Lawanga Perera powering over from close range on the left corner. The try was initiated by Nigel and Thilina combining to swap passes before sending Lawanga into space.
Police tried to fight back but were impatient on attack which led to several unforced errors and despite finding themselves in the Kandy 22 on a few occasions, they conceded too many penalties which worked in the visiting side’s favor.
Police were slowly getting into the game and eventually opened their account on the half-hour mark courtesy of a Sachith Silva penalty after Kandy strayed offside on defense (Kandy 12-3 Police)
Kandy replied back in the 23rd minute. Buwaneka Udangamuwa made a superb line break from midway between the halfway mark and the Police try-line before he was tackled deep inside the visitors’ half.
Ranjan gathered the ball and made a dash for the line but was stopped just short of the whitewash. He did well to offload the ball and Vishwamithra Jayasinghe barged over from close quarters.
Despite Kandy scoring, the home side continued to dominate possession and territory and won a penalty dismantling a scrum. The Police captain pointed to touch, having previously gone for the three-pointers and was rewarded for his bravery.
After the Police forwards had committed the Kandy defenders to the ruck with a rolling maul Wageesha Weerasinghe decided to break free and send the free hooker trying to join the maul. He went on time to provide the assist with an offload to Rasith Silva who dotted down in the left-hand corner. Sachith Silva nailed the conversion. (Kandy 17-10 Police)
However, Kandy never lay down and scored the last try of the first half. Roshan Weerarathne initiated it with a clever box kick over the top. Kandy chased it down and put Silva under pressure before forcing a turnover. Roshan then capitalized to hand Buwaneka Udangamuwa who was the man to capitalize, scoring on the left. Wijesinghe added the extras. (Kandy 24-10 Police)
Half Time; Kandy 24(4T 2C) -10(1T 1C 1P) Police
Surprisingly Kandy made the brighter start to the second half but despite spending the early part of the half camped inside the Police half, they committed several mistakes on attack which gifted the ball to the Police.
Police eventually narrowed the gap in the 45th minute courtesy of a missed tackle in the center field. Iroshan Silva made an impressive run before offloading to Sachith Silva, close to the 10-metre line. He was soon inside his opponents’ 22 where he offloaded to Gihan Silva, who stepped past a couple of defenders before diving over in the right-hand corner. (Kandy 24-15 Police)
Police started to believe that they were not yet dead and buried and delivered a riposte in the 66th minute. Having worked their way up to the ten-meter line, the forwards slowly but surely gained meter by meter before it was Hashan Fernando who crashed over from close range. Sachith Silva missed the vital conversion. (Kandy 24-20 Police)
But it was well and truly over when Thilina Wijesinghe stretched the lead to 7 points with a further penalty for not releasing. (Kandy 27-20 Police)
Full Time; Kandy 27(4T 2C 1P) -20(3T 1C 1P) Police
ThePapare.com Player of the Match – Shehan Pathirana (Kandy SC)
Score Break Down
Kandy SC
Tries by Vishwamithra Jayasinghe (2), Buwaneka Udangamuwa (1), and Lawanga Perera (1)
Conversions by Thilina Wijesinghe (2)
Penalty by Thilina Wijesinghe (1)Police SC
Tries by Rasith Silva (1), Gihan Silva (1) and Hashan Fernando (1)
Conversion by Sachith Silva (1)
Penalty by Sachith Silva (1)
