Another blockbuster clash of the Maliban Inter-Club Rugby League 2025/26, unveiled as CR & FC took on their arch-rivals Havelocks Sports Club at the CR & FC grounds, Longdon Place. After a commanding display, the hosts, CR & FC, flexed their muscles against the visitors with a comfortable 33 – 14 victory.
The visitors, Havelocks, made a deep kickoff under the floodlights, and CR straight away got out of jail with a counter kick into visitors’ territory. During the initial few minutes, Havelocks displayed some quality defensive work, and without much of a wait, the effort paid off as the hosts were penalised for holding on to the ball. Straightaway, Havelocks went for the points, but Samuel Madhuwantha had neither the distance nor the direction correct. After receiving the 22-metre dropout kick, the Havelock fullback tried to put his name on the scoresheet by attempting a drop goal. This time, he put in a better effort by finding the right angle, but didn’t have enough legs on the kick as it went just under the crossbar.
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After Havelock’s initial dominance, CR & FC eventually settled and enjoyed much possession in the middle passage of the first half. Later, they fiercely attacked deep into Havelock’s territory and kept asking some serious questions. While the ball worked sideways, Manilka Ruberu spotted a gap in the defence and tried to penetrate. While defenders were approaching him, Ruberu made a superb cut-out pass to the hero of the previous game, blistering Thenuka Nanayakkara. He broke the deadlock by going through the defence at the left corner and cutting back inside to plant the first try of the game just before he nailed the conversion kick. (CR & FC 07 – 00 Havelocks)
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With that score, CR regained their fine rhythm and attacked deep into Havelock’s territory. After a few pick-and-drives and short passes, the ball worked wide towards the left corner. Suddenly, the flyhalf, Zubair Doray, took the ball and drove his way towards the try line with the magnificent support of Naveen Marasinghe from behind. Doray scored the second try for the hosts by shoving his muscles against the much bigger opponents. Thenuka Nanayakkara made no mistake even with the second conversion. (CR & FC 14 – 00 Havelocks)
A few moments later, Havelocks regrouped and launched a better attack by crossing the opposition 22-meter mark. In the meantime, CR gave away a silly penalty for not releasing the tackled player. The visitors opted for the lineout, and it was succeeded by a brilliant maul. Once the Pink Army was bulldozing the Red Shirts with their immense power, the Hooker, Azmir Fajudeen, crossed the whitewash by giving the first try for visitors. The kicking star, Samuel Madhuwantha, nailed the conversion to cut the deficit into a converted try. (CR & FC 14 – 07 Havelocks)
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At the brink of Half Time, Havelocks fought back again into CR’s red zone, and they had ample opportunities to square the game before the lemons. The course made it much easier after the referee, Suranga Arunashantha, issued a yellow card for Manilka Ruberu for tapping the ball, which prevented a scoring chance. However, the 14-men CR’s defence was unshaken against the powering and repeated attacks of Havelocks and held their nerves well to prevent all the scoring chances until the short-whistle.
Half Time: CR & FC 14 (2 T, 2 C) – Havelocks SC 07 (1 T, 1 C)
Thenuka Nanayakkara started the proceedings in the second half with a short distance flat kick-off, and their chasers managed to regain possession. After a brief play, the Referee spotted a foul play as Rifan Mohommed kicked the ball, which was in the hands of the CR winger Chemod Muthunayake. However, Rifan was lucky enough to stay on the field as the Referee mitigated the offence just to a penalty. It was followed by a powerful maul, and CR’s Fijian player Eseni Waqanisau had a break from the behind. However, Havelock’s defenders did well to prevent the giant from scoring. But Wawanisau couldn’t keep away from the game, as he crossed the whitewash within seconds to score the first blood in the second half. Then, Nanayakkara continued on his merry way by adding the extras. (CR & FC 21 – 07 Havelocks SC)
Then, over twenty minutes of action-packed Rugby
unveiled at Longdon Place, but the close tussle didn’t trouble the scorers. Finally the deadlock was broken when CR winger Muthunayake received a clearance kick and advanced into the opposition 22 meter line. Later the visitors were penalized for not releasing the ball and by executing CR’s iconic attacking strategy with their forwards, they took the five meter lineout and drove with a rolling maul. Then, Omalka Gunaratne made a No. 08 break, but the Havies did well enough to bring him on the ground before scoring. The CR deceived the visitors with a flat pass sent to the blindside winger, who was unmarked and dived over the whitewash to score at the left corner. It was followed by Thenuka Nanayakkara’s splendid work which nailed the conversion. (CR & FC 28 – 07 Havelocks SC)
After some passage, the visitors looked more settled and started knocking on the door for another try. After a continuous pick and drive play, the ball was sent wide. At a ruck, Havelock’s foreign player Amituanai Vesesio picked the ball and barged his way against the biggest opponent on the field, Omalka Gunarathne. During the course, the huge forward bounced off from Omalka’s tackle and scored a thumping try by dragging another tackler. Yehan Bulathsinghalage made no mistake with the conversion. (CR & FC 28 – 14 Havelocks SC)
In the next passage, the Havelocks were in search of another try to open up the game, which was in the hands of the hosts. CR made the course much easier, as Shenal Adhikaram received a red card for stamping on a player who was on the ground (dangerous play). Later, the visitors had a good opportunity to score when they were just short of the tryline, but their butter fingers cost them the game.
During the dying stage of the game, Viduna Amaneth of CR spotted a gap in the defence and went through and advanced into Havelock’s territory. While he was making a blistering run, he went for a chip and chase, but it resulted in a 5-metre lineout with the throwing of the visitors. Then Havelocks had a disastrous lineout throw as it landed right into the safe hands of CR skipper Lasindu Karunathilake. Lasindu never wanted any invitation to cross over the try line with ease by putting the final nail on Havelock’s coffin. (CR & FC 33 – 14 Havelocks SC)
It was followed by a brief play, but the Havies failed to pull off even a consolation try against the high-riding Red Shirts even after they were reduced to 14 men.
With this remarkable victory, CR managed to keep their title hopes alive after their shocking defeat against CH & FC a few weeks ago. Both the sides fielded the foreign players, and importantly, they came to the party with exceptional play by attracting more spectators to the grounds by breaking the monotonous rhythm of the league.
Full Time: CR & FC 33 (5 T, 4 C) – Havelocks SC 14 (2 T, 2 C)
Swisstek Player of the Match: Thenuka Nanayakkara (CR & FC)
Points Breakdown
CR & FC – 33
Thenuka Nanayakkara 1 T, 4 C; Zubair Doray 1 T; Eseni Waqanisau 1 T; Chemod Muthunayake 1 T;
Havelocks SC 14
Azmir Fajudeen 1 T, Amituanai Vesesio 1 T, Samuel Madhuwantha 2 C
