Will CR & FC be third time lucky?

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CR & FC travel to Havelock town to take on table toppers Havelock Sports Club as 1st meets 4th in the first Super Round week of the Dialog Rugby League. Will the Longdon place Reds be third time lucky over the Pink Jerseys?

Nothing but a win will do for Havelock Sports Club in their quest to win the Dialog Rugby League after a lapse of 6 years.

Most Recent Encounter

Havelock’s Sports Club registered their best win of the season by far, coming from behind to defeat defending champions Kandy Sports Club at the Park, gaining the upper hand in the Dialog Rugby League.

Read More : Havies pip Kandy to top spot

Havelock’s now know, two wins out of their two remaining games would do if they are to repeat their championship winning 2012 season.

In similar fashion, CR & FC too were made to work for their win against an Air Force outfit languishing at the foot of the table.

The last time they met

The Pinks from the Park made light work of the Reds, making it two-out-of-two, defeating CR with similar score lines on both occasions.

31-22 was the result the first time they met this season at Longdon Place. Next up it was 31-24 as CR improved their previous defeat by just 2-points, losing the Mathysz Trophy which they won in 2017/18.

First meeting of the season

Second meeting of the season

What could we expect

The home side will no doubt look to continue with their forwards, keeping the ball close and taking the direct route, the same which helped them defeat the title holders last week. Consistency has been at its best at Havelock Park and we could expect more of the same from the hosts. After all, why would you want to change a winning formula.

CR & FC brought out their best showing twice against Havelock’s even though they ended on the wrong side of the result on both occasions.

Will they be able to do so for a third time? Yes. CR & FC will come out all guns blazing yet again. They would look to run the ball, they will look to play rugby, rather than let the hosts pull the strings.

If they are to come away with an upset, they will have to play good quality rugby and know that they have to up their performance from last week.

Key Match-ups

Havelock’s will be hoping to dominate the set piece once again with Faiz Abdulla, Azmir Fajudeen and Liston Flatny as they line up against a young CR front three of Gayan Jayasekara, Sven Muller and Charana Chamikara.

Wajid Fawmy lines up in the blindside flanker role against Senal Deelaka. Two dynamic flankers will surely be aiming to be a menace to their opponent at the breakdown.

Youngster Sandesh Jayawickrama was thrown into the deep end last weekend against Kandy and he did not disappoint. Given the fact Niroshan Fernando’s injury niggles continue, it will be a mouthwatering prospect to see the former Peterite youngster line up against former Trinity five-eighth, Tarinda Ratwatta.

Team news

Injuries have plagued the hosts in the last few weeks, leaving them without influential Dushmantha Priyadarshana and Dinuk Amarasinghe while losing Niroshan Fernando half way through last week.

Priyadarshana and Amarasinghe will continue on the sidelines while Niroshan Fernando too could very well sit out on the bench. Meanwhile, Theekshana Dasanayake could continue in the centers with Prince Chamara sitting out.

Omalka Gunaratne could return to the team with Kevin Dixon to face his old side while Steven Sivaraj may very well continue to sit out as Tarinda continues his return.

Prediction

CR head in as under-dogs knowing that toppling Havelock’s will be a tough task, however, if they are to do so, the Reds will require a full out performance by their forwards as well as backs.

Havelock’s to win by 5-12 points