In the 2nd Quarter Final of the Clifford Cup Knockout Championship 2024, Plate champs from the league phase of the season Police SC locked horns against Air Force SC at Longdon Place as both the teams fought their hearts out and ultimately the Cops emerged victorious with a scoreline of 29 – 27.
The game started with both the teams kicking for territory under the scorching heat at the Longdon Place as neither were able to make full use of the early try scoring opportunities. But Shane Hopwood out of nowhere attempted for a drop goal and it went over making the first score of the Clifford Cup a memorable one this year. He was well placed around 22m away and he was well in front of the two posts and it went over smoothly (PSC 03 – 00 AFSC)
The first try of the game came when Gayantha Iddamalgoda opted for the kick and chase from the halfway mark for Air Force and although he was unable to make the collection himself, Kavisha Kaluarachchi who came in as his supporting runner was able to gather the ball and had no one in front as he went all the way. Pramoth Pathmasanka converted the try to increase the lead for the Airmen (PSC 03 – 07 AFSC)
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But Air Force couldn’t stay in the lead for much longer as the Cops kick started a lovely rolling maul from around the 22m territory of Air Force and went all the way with Lahiru Thillakaratne scoring the try to give his team back the lead. Prince Chamara made sure to add the two extra points (PSC 10 – 07 AFSC)
Few minutes later when Air Force were slowly making inroads deep into Police territory, the defenders conceded a penalty off a dangerous tackle. Although there was no card shown, it costed them the lead as Gayantha Iddamalgoda kicked it through to make things even at Longdon Place (PSC 10 – 10 AFSC)
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With around 4 minutes to go in the first half, Air Force received two consecutive penalties where they went for the territory gaining kick and came close to the whitewash. From their they tried for the rolling maul and when it was just not enough to take them over, the forwards didn’t simply give up and kept going in for the hard hits as ultimately Udesh Madushanka managed to power his way over the try line to touch the ball down.Iddamalgoda with a beautiful angled conversion from the left of the field increased their lead to 7 points (PSC 10 – 17 AFSC)
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Soon after the try from Air Force to take the lead, Police also found the whitewash as they scored one of the best tries of the current club rugby season. After a kick into touch from Air Force which didn’t go into the Police half, the Cops were able to gain some good metres off a rolling maul from the lineout which followed. What happened from that moment onwards was pure magic as the trio of Prince Chamara, Hirantha Perera and Akash Madushanka combined to produce a moment of pure brilliance.After the ball came out from the maul, Primesh Dhanushka gave the ball out to his first received Chamara and he gained some metres before giving a picture perfect inside pass to Perera who found space and executed a slick one handed pass to his supporting runner Akash Madushanka who had no one to stop him as he stormed over the try line. Chamara added the two points with a regulation conversion kick and the referee signalled for lemons as both the teams were on 17 points each promising an intense second half (PSC 17 – 17 AFSC)
Half Time : Police SC 17 – 17 Air Force SC
Soon after the second half began, we saw another drop goal but this time from Air Force as Iddamalgoda positioned himself brilliantly and connected the kick to perfection which made Air Force edge past Police SC (PSC 17 – 20 AFSC)
But just like in the first half, the lead didn’t stay long for Air Force as two bulldozing runs from Madushanka and some good supporting play by Chamara opened the doors for Hopwood to add some more points to his tally as he found the whitewash. Chamara failed to add the two points but the plate champs still had a 2 point buffer (PSC 22 – 20 AFSC)
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A bursting run from Ishara Madushan gave the momentum back to Air Force and with less than 20 metres to go, the forwards from Air Force put up a solid display of hard hitting rugby as they toiled hard for every metre gained. Police were equally good with the defending but they conceded a penalty which gave Air Force the chance to restart from just a 5 metre distance where they went for a scrum and Shashika Fernando managed to find the try line. Iddamalgoda added two points to the board as the Airmen had a 5 points lead with 28 minutes to go (PSC 22 – 27 AFSC)
Air Force managed to hold onto the lead for the next 23 minutes as majority of the rugby was played in their own half. With less than 5 minutes to go in the game, a penalty for Police kick started a chain of events which laid the foundation for their victory. The kick to gain territory found some good metres for the Cops and then the lineout also went smoothly with the rolling maul gaining some good metres. But the icing on the cake was the dummy sold by the experienced Mithun Hapugoda who came in as the replacement half back as he found space and went over scoring the try very close to the posts making the life easier for the kicker. Hopwood completed an easy conversion as they took the lead by just 2 points (PSC 29 – 27 AFSC)
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The remaining few minutes were not enough for Air Force to make a comeback as Police played the remainder of the game smartly as the referee blew the final whistle which confirmed a semi final spot for Police SC against the unbeaten league champs CR & FC. Air Force will be really disappointed as they had the lead for the majority of the game but played too defensively since taking the lead as Police pounced on that mistake.
Akash Madushanka for Police was a weapon of mass destruction as he gained a lot of metres as a ball carrier and scored a try as stopping him was very hard for the Airmen on majority of the occasions. Due to all these reasons he was adjudged player of the match.
Full Time : Police SC 29 (4T 3C 1DG) beat Air Force SC 27 (3T 3C 1P 1DG)
Points Breakdown
Police SC
Akash Madushanka 1T, Lahiru Thillakaratne 1T, Mithun Hapugoda 1T, Shane Hopwood 1T 1DG 1C, Prince Chamara 2C
Air Force SC
Shashika Fernando 1T, Kavisha Kaluarachchi 1T, Udesh Madushanka 1T, Gayantha Iddamalgoda 2C 1DG, Pramoth Pathmasanka 1C
