Kandy Sports Club played their first home game of the Maliban Inter Club Rugby League 2025/26 against Police Sports Club after the two week break. The home team brought their A-Game in the second half to beat the cops 49-17.
The defending champions started the game off at a rocket pace. They meant business right from the get go. After forcing Police to exit, Kandy counter attacked well, and after a few slick hands, and a clean break from Akash Madushanka, Final Ekanayake dived over for the first try of the game. The intent was clear. Hirusha Sampath hacked the conversion from the upright, as Kandy took the early lead. (Kandy SC 05 – 00 Police SC)
- Navy SC vs Havelock SC | Mastercard Inter-Club ‘A’ Division Rugby League 2024/25
- 5 Talking Points ahead of the Maliban Inter-Club Rugby League 2025/26
- Sri Lanka Rugby Confirms Inclusion of Foreign Players for the 2025/2026 A Division Season
- Who will be the surprise package of the brand-new club season?
It didn’t take too long for Kandy to get their second try. A set-piece move off the first attacking scrum they got, resulted in a huge overlap being created out wide for Dinal Ekanayake, who put in a slick offload for Diluksha Dange who finished it off. The kick from Sampath was not a good one, as Kandy extended their lead. (Kandy SC 10 – 00 Police SC)
After 20+ phases of attack, Police managed to extract a penalty from the Kandy defensive line. The penalty was just in front of the posts, so Prince Chamara opted for the 3, and got the 3, to break the duck on the score card for the visitors. (Kandy SC 10 – 03 Police SC)
Police kept on mounting the pressure on Kandy. This time, the pressure got to Dilshan Fareed, as he was shown a yellow card for a reckless high tackle. This was the advantage the cops needed, and which they took with open arms.
Police started to execute their come back. The forwards were up to the task. After a number of strong pick and drives, Dhanushka Edissuriya barged his way for the visitors first try of the game, Prince Chamara made no mistake with the conversion, as the scores were levelled. (Kandy SC 10 – 10 Police SC)
Kandy were made to work hard. They had already made 80+ tackles by the 35th minute mark. The home team were on the backfoot. Once again, the cops pounced on the unstructured Kandy fringed defense, before Ashan Darling steamrolled his way over the line, to get them the lead. Prince Chamara was on point once again, as the cops took the lead into the half time huddle.
Half Time – Kandy S.C. 10 (2T) vs Police S.C. 17 (2T,2C,1P)
Kandy had to start the second half well. They changed tactics from a conservative approach, to a more dynamic and territorial one. This unlocked the Police defense, as the errors started to creep into the game of the cops’. A 5m scrum for Kandy resulted in their pack shoving the visitors back, and scoring the try through No. 8 Dahan Wickramaarachchi. Hirusha Sampath added the extras to equalize the score. (Kandy SC 17 – 17 Police SC)
It took some time for the next score to come, however in the interim there were some interesting moments of tactical play from both teams, more so from Kandy. After a few phases and quick recycle ball, Srinath Sooriyabandara shimmied his way across the Police defense to leave Dinal Ekanayake unmanned to score Kandy’s bonus point winning try. Sampath’s horror day off the tee continued, as the kick went astray once again. (Kandy SC 22 – 17 Police SC)
It was the forwards who had the next say. A penalty conceded by Police opened the door for Kandy to go to touch and set up a rolling maul. Although the Police defense initially stopped the maul, the big forwards from Kandy stayed patient until Dilshan Fareed rallied behind his men to score for his team. The kick from Sampath this time was accurate, as Kandy started pulling away from Police. (Kandy SC 29 – 17 Police SC)
That was not all the Kandy forwards had in their arsenal. A few minutes later they emulated the same rolling maul. Kenula Hettiarachchi was the beneficiary of the good work of his pack of forwards. The kicking woes continued for Kandy as replacement fly half Asiri Seneviratne missed the conversion. (Kandy SC 34 – 17 Police SC)
However, he redeemed himself from that miss moments later. Seneviratne brushed past two would-be tacklers, to get yet another try for Kandy. No prices for guessing what happened with the conversion… (Kandy SC 39 – 17 Police SC)
The rest of the game belonged to Kandy. More so, to Srinath Sooriyabandara and Kavindu Perera. The maestro was on fire. Creating gaps from absolutely nothing. This time he swung the ball out to Kavindu Perera who scored in the corner. No conversion this time either. (Kandy SC 44 – 17 Police SC)
Talk about side stepping! Sooriyabandara just 5m away from the touchline, goosestepped his way through the Police defense, before offloading the ball out to Kavindu Perera who scored his second try of the day. Kick? Not successful once again.
Full Time – Kandy S.C. 49 (9P,2C) vs Police S.C. 17 (2T,2C,1P)
Swisstek PerfectPlayer of the Match – Srinath Sooriyabandara (Kandy)
