Kandy Sports Club bounced back to avenge their defeat in their last encounter against CR, and pulled off a valiant comeback win at the Colombo Racecourse on Saturday (3), defeating the hosts CH&FC 32-24 under heavy humid conditions in their Round 2 opener of the Nippon Paint Inter Club Rugby League clash.
CH&FC, led by the youngest skipper in the league, Avantha Lee, had the game in their hands for most parts of the game, but failed to keep a hold on it until the dying moments of the game as defending champions Kandy survived yet another scare to keep their hopes alive to fight for the Cup Championship, along with the Longdon Place lads CR, who are still maintaining their unbeaten run in an ever so closely contested league in ages.
The Gymkhana Club had a solid 14-point lead after Hirusha Nethimina’s great day filled with four kicks at goal helping the home team to have commanding control over the game, with the defending champs under pressure. However the old fox, the maestro of surprises, Srinath ‘Soori’ Sooriyabandara, was the man who gave the glimpse of hope for the Hill Country Club as he razzled and dazzled his way through in the most unexpected times of the game to put his name on the scoreboard, which eventually rejuvenated an aimless team – the whole Kandy line-up later pulling their socks to play together as a team to get the all-important ‘W’ at the final whistle. Tarinda ‘Tari’ Ratwatte was spot on with his kicks at goal, which made a clear cut difference when he opted for the penalty kicks at the final minutes of the game.
Kandy were piling pressure right from the start and opted for touch instead of the posts showing clear intentions of their game plan, and just over 5 minutes from kick off, Jason Dissanayake scored in the left flank through a rolling maul. Tari missed the extras, (KSC 05-00 CH).
10th minute – CH, with a brilliant effort through their forwards, equalised. Deputy Skipper Hirusha Nethmina missed the extras with heavy winds against him. (CH 05-05 KSC)
Just after 3 minutes, Kandy, through Wajid Fawmy, replied yet again off a rolling maul to score in the right flank facing the Olympic House. Ratwatte made no mistake with the tough kick at goal. (KSC 12-05 CH)
18th minute – Janith Laksara of CH went over the whitewash with Hirusha adding the extras to make it even-stevens again. (KSC 12-12 CH)
The Hill Capital lad Hirusha put CH on top for the first time in the game after slotting in a penalty almost from the halfway mark in the 32nd minute. (CH 15-12 KSC) He slotted another just at the brink of lemons.
Half Time – CH 18 (2T 1C 2P) – 12 Kandy (2T 1C)
Hirusha added another couple of penalties in the second half to go up 24-12, that’s the only scoring done by Gymkhana Club in the 2nd half. At this juncture, CH were on cloud-nine with a splendid 14-point lead and on the verge of a famous win against mighty Kandy.
However, Srinath Sooriyabandara had other plans as he scored for Kandy in the 53rd minute off a quick tap and Tari added the extras. (CH 24-19 KSC), CH faced their biggest blow when playmaker Hirusha Nethmina was sin-binned for a high shot at ‘Soori’ which both cost and came back to bite the Gymkhana lads at the end result.
Later Tarinda Ratwatte shattered CH hearts to score under the post and convert in the 58th minute. (KSC 26-24 CH)
63rd minute – Kandy winger Diluksha Dange got a yellow card, but Kandy managed to secure their lead. Soon afterwards, within a matter of minutes, Tarinda Ratwatte put over a peach of a penalty for the first time in the game with just 5 minutes to go for full time. (KSC 29-24 CH)
Ratwatte finished the game off in style, slotting over another penalty at the last gasp. (KSC 32-24 CH)
This results means that The Inter Club League is now poised like never seen before in the last decade, with CR and Kandy in a do or die battle. We especially see CR yearning for the league glory since their last win, which came a quarter-century ago in 1998.
Match Breakdown:
Full Time – Kandy 32 (4T 3C 2P) beat CH&FC 24 (2T 1C 4P)
Black Knight Player of the Match – Srinath Sooriyabandara
Yellow Cards – Hirusha Sampath (CH), Diluksha Dange (KSC)
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, defeating the hosts CH&FC 32-24 under heavy humid conditions in their Round 2 opener of the Nippon Paint Inter Club Rugby League clash.){kind=link}