Air Force ‘A’ shock high-riding Kandy ‘A’
View(s):By Vimal Perera
Sevens experts Kandy Sports Club ‘A’ met their Waterloo as Air Force Sports Club ‘A’ brought them down 12-19 on a lacklustre first day of the Dialog Inter-Club Rugby Sevens 2013 at Havelock Park yesterday. With Air Force ‘A’ heading the Group ‘C’, Kandy SC ‘A’ will meet Navy SC ‘A’ in the first quarterfinal clash in the Cup/Plate segment as all the thrills and fills were reserved for the closing day, which is today.
CR&FC ‘A’ player Piyum Jayasinghe brings down an Air Force ‘B’ player in their game - Pic by Amila Gamage
With the favourites, the ‘A’ sides of Kandy Sports Club, Navy Sports Club, Air Force Sports Club, CR&FC and Upcountry Lions performing up to their potential and most of the ‘B’ sides being steam-rolled the closing day is expected to be filled with a lot of excitement at Havelock Park today. Among other quarterfinals lined-up in the Cup/Plate segment are games between Upcountry Lions and Police SC ‘A’, Air Force SC ‘A’ and CH&FC and Havelocks and CR&FC ‘A’.
The tournament featured 16 teams as they were slotted into four groups with four teams in each. The ‘A’ sides of Upcountry Lions and CR&FC were slotted in the Group ‘A’ as they recorded comprehensive wins against the hapless ‘B’ sides of Police and Air Force. Upcountry Lions beat Police ‘B’ by a commanding 37-0 and went on to register a comprehensive 40-5 win against Air Force ‘B’ before registering a thrilling win against SC ‘A’ by 15-10. CR&FC were quite cautious in their opening game but went on to beat the Airmen 19-0. However they were highly impressive against the Cops in the following game which was won by an imposing 48-0, the highest winning margin of the day. Air Force ‘B’ won their solitary game against Police ‘B; by 26-0.
From the Group ‘B’ Navy ‘A’ was virtually commanding the cluster as they beat CR&FC ‘B’ by 37-5, CH&FC by 24-7 and Army ‘A’ by 24-12. The encounter between CH&FC and Army ‘A’ looked rigorous as eventually the Soldiers went on to suffer a shocking 21-24 defeat. But they recorded a neat win against CR&FC ‘B’ by 19-10. CH beat CR ‘B’ by 17-7 in their final group match.
Kandy SC ‘A’ dominated the Group ‘C’ with wins over Navy ‘B’ by 26-5 and a luckless Petersons side by 45-0 before succumbing to the Airmen. Air Force ‘A’ remained unbeaten from the same group after hammering Petersons 33-5, Navy ‘B’ by 19-5 and their exciting win against Kandy. In the final group match Navy ‘B’ thrashed Petersons by 39-0.
Havelocks beat Kandy ‘B’ by 31-7, Army ‘B’ by 36-0 and Police ‘A’ by 22-0 to lead the Group ‘D’ while Police ‘A’ with a win against Army ‘B’ by 39-0 and a 12-all draw with Kandy ‘B’ finished second. Kandy ‘B’ registered an unimpressive 12-0 win against Army ‘B’
The tournament which kicked off at 1.00pm continued under lights up to 9.00 pm on the first day. The tournament will recommence today at 1.00pm from the Cup Quarterfinals stage. The finals will be played under lights at 8.00pm.
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