Army SC and Navy SC locked horns in a bottom-of-the-table clash at the Army Rugby Grounds in Panagoda as both the teams were looking for their first win after 3 straight losses. In a game dominated by the soldiers from start to finish, they walked out with a bonus point win with a scoreline of 29 – 17 against the Sailors.
Army SC made their intentions clear from the very first move of the game, as it was clear they were looking to run from anywhere in the field. Sudharaka Dikkumbura, who almost turned things around for the Soldiers against Havies, started strong with a commanding run before being stopped with a good tackle. But in the next move, Navy conceded a penalty, and Saviru Nimsika was yellow carded shortly after for an offside try even after an earlier warning by the referee.
>>Photos – Army SC vs Navy SC | Nippon Paint Rugby League 2023/24 – Week 4<<
Following the card, the hosts decided to go for a scrum, and they lost the ball from the very first phase. But Chirantha Kaluarachchi’s clearance kick from their own 22m went straight to Dishara Kodagoda, who found ample space with a lovely step to the left from the defender in front of him to go all the way and dive towards the try line in style. Ashan Bandara, the skipper, converted the try to add the extra points (ASC 07 – 00 NSC)
After that first try inside the first 5 minutes of the game, the Army created more opportunities in consecutive attempts. Still, their ball-handling errors cost them at least two possible opportunities to score. The second break finally came to them when a Navy line out close to their own 22m line was won by the Soldiers. They worked the ball wide and then used the shorter side of the field to find Bandara, who gave the pass out to Lasantha Kumara, who brought in the remaining defenders in the shorter side towards him and gave a well-timed pass to Nalan Premanath, the lock forward who joined the line. Premanath had no trouble whatsoever in going over for the second try of the game for Army SC. The conversion didn’t go through, and the lead stayed the same for the hosts (ASC 12 – 00 NSC)
It’s fair to say that the Army outfit had more opportunities, which they couldn’t finish, and the scoreline of 12-00 didn’t provide the image of how dominant they were in the first 25 minutes. The play was happening at the Navy half for 98% of the time, and 30 minutes into the first half, the sailors finally had their moment in the game. They managed to win a line out close to the 22m territory of Army, and a solid rolling maul took them towards the 22m line. Then the lock forward and flanker combination of Dananjaya Senevirathna and Denuwan Wickramarachchi took them close towards the whitewash, and Lahiru Herath finished the job by bulldozing his way to the touch ball down, getting the better of two defenders from Army who missed tackles. Kongahawatta converted the try, and the deficit was down to just 5 points for the visitors (ASC 12 – 07 NSC)
Going into the last few minutes of the first half, Army managed to hit back as Lasantha Kumara increased his tally of tries in the season to four. Kodagoda laid the foundation for the try with a lovely kick and chase, and although Kongahawatta made the collection, he couldn’t gather it cleanly on the first try. That lapse of a second was enough for the soldiers to put pressure on him and win the ball back. Danilsha Dissanayake, the hooker, gained some good metres after the turnover and gave the pass out to Kumara, who went over the try line from the left corner. The conversion didn’t go through, but the lead for the Soldiers was in double-digit territory for the first time (ASC 17 – 07 NSC)
With just a few minutes to go before Lemons, Saviru Nimsika, who received a yellow card earlier, was shown another yellow card for an intentional knock forward, which meant it was the game for him, and Navy had to play the rest of the game with just 14 men on the field.
Half Time : Army SC 17 – 07 Navy SC
With the numbers disadvantage on their side, things looked ominous for the sailors, but they found momentum early in the second half when Seneviratna charged down the first kick from Army. Luckily for the soldiers, they managed to kick the ball out of the in-goal area, but the scrum that followed produced the second try when Dimuth Perera found space from the right corner. Kongahawatta couldn’t convert the try, but the difference was now in touching distance (ASC 17 – 12 NSC)
Errors started to creep in from the soldiers for a bit as the game got tighter, but Navy were not disciplined enough with the ball in hand to put more pressure. A knock forward by Navy inside their own 22m line paved the way for the bonus point try for the hosts as Lahiru Rathhnayaka found the overlap created by the numbers advantage they had from the right side of the field. Skipper Bandara managed to kick through a tough conversion with the angle to make it a 12-point game (ASC 24 – 12 NS)
As the game entered its last quarter, Army were shown 2 yellow cards in the space of 5 minutes, opening the doors for Navy. Even with a red-carded player, the sailors now had the numbers advantage, but they couldn’t capitalise on that as the Army defence stood firm. As the numbers became even again, soldiers managed to put the final hit on the sinking ship of the sailors as skipper Bandara charged down a Kaluarachchi kick from their own 22m territory and made the collection himself to score a 5-pointer. This time, the conversion didn’t have the distance, although it had direction just falling short (ASC 29 – 12 NSC)
With the clock running out, Navy managed to score a consolation try on the back of Viraj Kolabarachchi as he found the whitewash after a rolling maul took them close towards the try line (AC 29 – 17 NSC)
Maduranga Nalaka, the lock forward of Army SC, was adjudged as the Black Knight Player of the match for being a force to reckon with in all parts of the ground, whether it was in defending or whether it was in attacking.
With this result, Army SC has finally managed to end their losing streak, but for Navy SC, the unfortunate streak has increased from 3 straight losses to 4.
Full Time : Army SC 29 (5T 2C) beat Navy SC 19 (3T 1C)
Black Knight Player of the Match : Maduranga Nalaka (Army SC) Points Breakdown
Army SC : Dishara Kodagoda 1T, Lasantha Kumara 1T, Nalan Premanath 1T, Lahiru Rathnayake 1T, Ashan Bandara 1T 2C
Navy SC : Lahiru Herath 1T, Viraj Kolabarachchi 1T, Dimuth Perera 1T, Isuru Kongahawatte 1C
