Spirited second half rally by Airmen, was not enough to crack through the CH defense

Another interesting clash of the final week (1st round) of the Maliban Inter-Club Rugby League 2025/26 was staged as CH & FC took on Air Force Sports Club at the CR & FC grounds in Colombo. After having a superb second-half rally, the Airmen fell short of victory by just a couple of points after a thriller in Longdon Place, shattering their hopes of entering the cup segment. 

The visitors, Air Force, made a deep but flat kickoff to start the proceedings of the day. But CH did well enough to escape from the initial threat and also launched a fine counterattack. Within two minutes of play, CH received a penalty after an ill-disciplined play by the Airmen. It was succeeded with a five-metre lineout, and CH players were striving for a try with a powerful maul. But the visitors did well enough to push the maul over the touchline. Hence, Airmen received a five-metre lineout throw, and they made a total mess of it. The national hooker, Pulasthi Dassanayake, saw the opportunity given on a platter with the loose ball and pinched it before he went over the whitewash for the first try. The prolific place kicker, Janith Chandimal, was spot on with the conversion kick to give a seven-point lead. (CH & FC 07 – 00 AF) 

After ten minutes of play, CH deployed a fine attack deep into the Airmen’s territory. CH foreign player Marcel Human made an impact on the game with a fine break, and he made a brilliant offload to the supporting player. But he made a disastrous knock-on while grounding the ball. After receiving the goalline drop-out kick, CH foreign player Marcel again made some good metres by avoiding a few tackles. Then the Airmen went for a ball turnover, but the referee Raveen Alexander,referee, was spot on and decided that the Air Force player was off his feet while he was picking it up. Hence, Janith Chandimal had an easy penalty kick on the 22-metre line, and he nailed it to extend the lead. (CH & FC 10 – 00 AF) 

After a few minutes, the CH hooker threw the ball and attempted to tackle the Air Force receiver after turning over the lineout. But he had a high shot on the scrum half, and the referee showed a yellow card to Pulasthi Dasanayake. 

Thereafter, airmen launched another fierce attack inside CH territory, and suddenly Air Force fly-half Ishara Madushan went for an air attack with a drop-goal attempt, which narrowly missed the target. Soon after, Air Force foreign talent Vaovasa Afa had a punt kick, but CH defenders were penalised for blocking the chasing kicker. Then Kaveesha Kaluarachchchi nailed the penalty kick and secured the first blood for the visitors. (CH & FC 10 – 03 AF) 

Later in the half, CH launched another fine attack and kept asking some serious questions of the Air Force defence. In reply, Airmen conceded a penalty for offside play, and reliable kicker Chandimal opted for points but with a difficult opportunity. Though the penalty kick went astray, the ball stayed inside the field of play, and the charging CH players gave tremendous pressure to the Airmen who had possession but inside their red zone. Hence, the Airmen not only conceded a penalty but also were reduced to 14 men as the referee sin-binned Nilantha Jayaweera.  To capitalise on the numerical advantage with the extra man on the field, CH twice opted for the scrum option. After a powering scrum, CH took a No. 08 break, and with a short pass to scrum-half Maliksha Perera, went over the line. At the brink of halftime, Janith Chandimal made a stunning conversion to give a comfortable score for the hosts. (CH 17 – 03 AF) 

The successful conversion attempt was followed by the short whistle, and the teams went out of the ground for the lemons. 

Half Time: CH & FC 17 (2 T, 2 C, 1 P) – Air Force SC 03 (1 P) 

Chandimal started the proceedings in the second half with a high-hanging deep restart kick, and Gayantha Iddamalgoda got his team out of jail doing nothing fancy inside their red zone. 

A few moments later the airmen earned a vital penalty after pressurising CH forwards with a well-constructed maul. The CH displayed some ill-disciplined play and gave away another couple of penalties for collapsing a maul again and for offside play. After a committed play by Air Force players, finally they took the first blood in the second half as the big prop forward, Manuka Perera, barged his way over the line after pushing a few defenders. But the Air Force place kicker, Kaluarachchi, missed a crucial conversion which could change the entire complexion of the game. (CH 17 – 08 AF) 

With that momentum and energy, Air Force decided to rise out of the ashes and kept asking some serious questions again from the CH defence.  But all of a sudden CH secured the possession inside the opponents’ territory by out-hooking from an Air Force scrum. Then the ball switched to the three quarters who worked it wide, and the CH winger Warnakulasooriya touched down for another try at the left corner. Then Janith Chandimal made no mistake with the conversion and extended the lead. (CH 24 – 08 AF) 

After conceding a try, Air Force regrouped and attacked into CH territory. They earned a vital penalty as the CH player was unable to roll away after tackling. After receiving another penalty for collapsing a maul, CH managed to steal the lineout. But the luck didn’t favour them, as the ball went into the in-goal area and Air Force No. 08 Shashika Fernando was the first player to reach the ball and grounded it for an easy try. Then Kaluarachchi was good with the conversion to bring the gap into a single digit. (CH 24 – 15 AF) 

Thereafter, the determined Air Force again invaded the CH territory and received a penalty for offside play, and they earned a five-metre lineout. After having a few untidy lineouts, finally Airmen had a solid one and powered their way with a brilliant maul. At the back, Parakrama Rathnayake went over the line to score their third try. It was succeeded by brilliant footwork by the veteran fullback, Gayantha Iddamalgoda, where the conversion curved in at the right time to cut the deficit down to just two points. (CH 24 – 22 AF) 

Then the Airmen were roaring and smelling blood for another try with full confidence, as they had all the momentum in the second half. All of a sudden, CH player Nahan Hemachandra made a fine and game-changing block to a box kick of Air Force. After the ball moved towards the CH try line, Nahan Hemachandra did well to chase and pick the ball and to score by astonishing the entire Air Force defence. Janith Chandimal nailed another vital conversion by taking the game out of the reach of the Airmen as far as the remaining time was concerned. (CH 31 – 22 AF) 

During the final couple of minutes, CH conceded multiple penalties, and Airmen earned a five-metre lineout due to an offside play of the hosts. This time they created another fine maul after a clean and steady lineout. But CH did well to resist the maul, and the Airmen stroked with their heavy forwards with a pick and drive passage. Finally the gigantic prop forward, Manuka Perera, went over the line by pushing a few CH players to score the bonus point try. Reliable kicker Gayantha Iddamalgoda nailed a much more difficult conversion, but it didn’t make any difference to the outcome of the game. (CH 31 – 29 AF) 

Just after the eye-catching conversion kick, the referee blew the long whistle, and after 80+ minutes of play, the difference between the sides was just a conversion kick. During the final first-round game, CH held their nerve well to escape from the jaws of defeat and to carry away a bonus point victory. From the Airmen’s perspective, though they earned the bot try and lost bonus points, their valiant second-half rally wasn’t enough to secure them a place in the cup segment of the Maliban Club Rugby League 2025/26. 

Full Time: CH & FC 31 (4 T, 4 C, 1 P) – Air Force SC 29 (4 T, 3 C, 1 P) 

• Swisstek Player of the Match: Devinda Rathnayake (CH & FC) 

Points Breakdown 

 

CH & FC – 31 

Pulasthi Dasanayake 1 T, Maliksha Perera 1 T, Samitha Warnakulasooriya 1 T,  Nahan Hemachandra 1 T, Janith Chandimal 4 C, 1 P, 

 

Air Force SC – 29 

Manuka Perera 2 T, Shashika Fernando 1 T, Parakrama Rathnayake 1 T, Kaveesha Kaluarachchi 1P 1C, Gayantha Iddamalgoda 2 C,