Havelock Sports Club managed to win a close encounter against Navy Sports Club 31 points to 20 in a game which was dominated by the forwards at Welisara earlier today.
Riza Mubarak kick started proceeding for Havies in a must win game to reduce the points gap with Kandy SC.
Havies meant business straight from the kickoff itself as the forwards scored an early try through a trademark rolling maul with Sithum Peiris finding the white wash.
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Riza Mubarak was unable to add the extras as his easy kick was charged down by Buddima Piyarathne.
Havies lost their early momentum as Navy managed to use their forwards effectively and Havies leaked a penalty in front of the sticks which Thilina Weerasinghe obliged with an easy penalty kick.
Photo Album : Navy SC v Havelock SC – Dialog Rugby League 2018/19 | #Match 36
Navy continued using their forwards patiently as Havies panicked with their defence and gave away penalties in the breakdown. Navy took a bold decision to not kick for points as they took the quick tap and Charith Silva powered himself over the struggling Havies defence to score. Weerasinghe added the extras. (Navy 10- 05 Havies)
Mubarak had a successful day against Navy climbing to 65 points in the league
Navy lost their No 08 Radeesha Senevirathne as he made a reckless high tackle and got a 10 minute breather at the sin bin.
Havies took the maximum out of the numerical advantage when Mithun Hapugoda and Dinuk Amarasekara executed a superb set piece move and managed to send Riza Mubarak over the line. Riza managed to convert his try from a difficult angle. (Navy 10- 12 Havies)
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The Park club continued with their game plan of the rolling maul and it was executed perfectly by their forwards as Azmir Fajudeen scored from the back of the maul to increase their lead. (Navy 10- 17 Havies)
The player of week 08 Mithun Hapugoda collected the ball from an unwanted offload from Adeesha Weerathunga and made a 75-meter dash to score the bonus point try for the Pink shirts. Mubarak added the extra two points.
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Navy made a few strides towards scoring a try before the half time as Havies gave three penalties in quick succession but Navy was unable to put points on the board before the break.
Half Time – NAVY 10 (1T,1C,1P) – HAVIES 24 (4T,2C)
The Park club faced a set back at the beginning of the second half when Senal Deelaka was sin binned for a no arms tackle and Thilina Weerasinghe slotted in a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 11 points.
The yellow card for Deelaka proved very expensive for the Park club as the Sailors managed to score a much needed try through Kasun De Silva who found the white wash from a pick drive to reduce the deficit and skipper Weerasinghe bisected the uprights with ease. (Navy 20- 24 Havies)
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Havies managed to hit back straight away as Lasindu Karunathilake foxed two Navy defenders with a step in and scored an important try for the Park club and the conversion by Mubarak was successful.
Havies had to play the last six minutes with fourteen men as Shawkout Lahir was sin binned and Navy continued attacking the Havies try line using their forwards but Navy couldn’t capitalize on those opportunities due to the solid defensive performance by the Park club who held their nerve to get a bonus point victory.
>>Points Table | Dialog Rugby League<<
Full Time – NAVY SC 20 (2T,2C,2P) – Havelock SC 31 (5T,3C)
- ThePapare.com’s Player of the Match – Sithum Peiris (Havelock Sports Club)
- Match Referee – Priyantha Gunarathne
Breakdown
NAVY SC: Tries from Charith Silva, Kasun De Silva, Conversions (2) & Penalties (2) by Thilina Weerasinghe
HAVELOCK SC: Tries from Sithum Peiris, Riza Mubarak, Azmir Fajudeen, Mithun Hapugoda, Lasindu Karunathilake and conversions (3) by Riza MubarakCautions & Send offs:
Navy SC: Radeesha Senevirathne (Yellow)
Havelock SC: Senal Deelaka, Shawkout Lahir (Yellow)
