The game was tied at 11-all with only ten minutes left from the final whistle, and Havelocks made the best possible moves to capitalise with a crucial and important try off hooker Prasad Madushanka which took their tally to 16. The Sailors did an exact move in the final minute, and a touchdown and a kick was all they needed to pull off a stunner. But instead the ball was knocked on by its carriers only to hear the final whistle and a rejoiced Havies side, who were down to 13 men at one stage.

However, to term the Havies did a load of tasks than they usually do to earn a low-scoring victory could be reasonable, as they led 8-5 at halftime. The hosts scored from two unconverted tries and two penalties while the Sailors responded with one less try from their opponent’s final tally.

Havies opened scoring in the 10th minute off a penalty from fullback Riza Mubarak, who kicked a second penalty in the 48th minute, after the halftime. Navy took the lead for the only time by 5-3 in the 26th minute when Navy fullback Thilina Weerasinghe touched down but failed with the conversion. Weerasinghe was eventually responsible for all the points that Navy scored through the whole game. He put over a couple of penalties in the second half, in the 52nd and 69th minutes.

Nishon Perera was responsible for Havies’ first try which came in the 33rd minute and the crucial and second was from Madushanka, which ended the 11-all deadlock. Three players from Havelocks, Sithum Peiris, Niroshan Fernando, Senal Deelaka and Navy centre Buddhima Priyaratne, received yellow cards. Referee Priyantha Gunaratne.

 

The Soldiers seemed pretty keen on striking the first blow as they kept play in Kandy’s half and forced the champions into a defensive mode. A daring run by winger Richard Dharmapala gave the first hint that Kandy was not to be trifled with. A little chip from fly half Fazil Marija took play deep into Army territory. Centre Dhanushka Ranjan gained possession, made a slicing run and, when tackled, slipped the ball to Dharmapala who went over by the left corner flag. Thilina Wijesinghe made a good conversion.

Completely unfazed by this, the Army sent the ball down the line. Sudharaka Dikkumbura transferred to centre Sameera Bulathsinhalage whose run along the touch line was unstoppable. Full Back Gayan Salinda converted well to tie the scores (7 all).

Army gained the lead when Salinda slotted over a penalty awarded because the Kandy line was off side.

Bulathsinhalage, who had a great game, was in the action once again. He started the move, drew the defence and gave over to winger Manoj Bandara who came round the last defender to touch down. Salinda converted and the Army had a healthy ten point lead at this stage (17-7).

Kandy was not taking this lying down. Their back division spread the ball around and winger Lavanga Perera dived over. Wijesinghe was on target. Lemons were taken at 17-14 in Army’s favour.

The second half was probably a little hum drum and devoid of much excitement. The Army failed to nip a Kandy move in the bud. The upshot of this was that skipper Gayan Weeraratne fought his way over the line in the teeth of opposition from the soldiers. Wijesinghe added the extra points as the visitors took the lead 21-17.

The Army thrower in a line out close to the goal line, made a hash of a long throw. The unexpected gift was delivered into the hands of Heshan Kalhara who duly fell over. This try went unconverted but Kandy had now put some distance between them and the Army.

A penalty conversion by Salinda made the scores a bit closer (26-20). Kandy had the final say when Thilina Wijesinghe kicked an easy penalty to settle the issue (29-20).

A little before that, Kandy got a couple of five yard scrums but were unable to make an impact because of Army’s sturdy defence.

Kandy was without some ‘stars’ – Wilwara, Udangamuwa, Ratwatte and Dissanayake. That may have mattered against a stronger team. However even though the match was not terribly exciting, the champions did enough to win with the bonus point.

Referee – Dinka Pieris.

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