Kandy confident, but are mindful of the cops
In recent times, the Police match merely served as an aperitif for the oft-crowned Kandy SC. With that out of the way, the players were able to focus on the tougher games that followed, with confidence at a high.
The Police team’s defeat of the CR and FC by a nineteen point margin has put all that in perspective. The law-enforcers seem to have warmed up to their task. Early defeats at the hands of the Havelocks and the Navy couldn’t have enthused them. Yet the fact that they scored four tries in the
South African Chris Cloete has been effective for Kandy SC
Navy game (as against ten by the sailors) bespeaks a certain attacking potential. Further, six touch downs in the CR game (two each by Apisai and Samantha Lakshan) testify to the penetrativeness and efficacy of the back division. To delve into this matter more, their Fijian recruit, centre Apisai, has indulged in some splendid running and seems to have ignited the others into doing more of the same. Their other recruits Filimonia Seru (Fiji) and Horace Otieno (Kenya) have risen to the occasion and weighed in to make this Police side a formidable one.Kandy SC started off with a whopping win against the Airmen, but were taken down a peg or two by a fired up Army side. To their credit – and this is the hall-mark of a good team – Kandy raised their game to defeat two of the best sides in the tournament. The Havies was a last gasp affair. Not so the Navy match in which they emerged comfortable winners.
The ‘man-eating’ sharks from Hambantota were defanged in the last game, but the final tally doesn’t indicate complete mastery. The fact that Marija and a couple of other lading lights did not participate would have had something to do with that.The turn around in their fortunes came when the undoubted talent of the South African Chris Cloete was identified and he was thrust into the limelight. Relishing his new-found role, Cloete has produced a spate of tries. Some of them have been quite dazzling. Kenyan Oscar Ouma has also added some cubits to his stature with a few stand-out displays. He has a slight tendency to run across and he would do well to guard against that.
The forwards have stepped up their work-rate and have provided the base for the attacks launched by their talented outsides. Of the latter, Anuruddha Wilvara has been the pick and he has helped himself to quite a few tries.
The gloom and doom induced by the Army defeat have disappeared. As a result of a few topsy-turvy results, Kandy has risen to numero uno.
They are now in a position to annex the league title if they keep up the winning sequence. It won’t be easy. However, looking at the leading contenders, it is Kandy who have the adrenalin flowing right now. A win here followed by another at home to the CR and FC, should open up a sizeable lead at the top.