It was not easy for Kandy but a win was always on the cards
Kandy SC winger Anuruddha Wilwara races away to score a try - Pic by Amila Gamage
It wasn’t Kandy all the way, but the champions pulled off a reasonably comfortable win by 23 points (2 goals, 3 penalties) to 6 (2 penalties) at the Racecourse ground yesterday. Kandy had 20 points in the bank at lemons, and they were only able to add a further three in a second half that developed some friction.
The game was called off by referee Dinka Pieris with a couple of minutes to go. In truth, it should have been called off at least ten minutes prior to that. It was too dark and the risk of injury should have been considered.
Two strong packs were battling it out in midfield in the early period. As always, Kandy was probing for gaps, but the CH forwards, who played superbly in the first half, kept them at bay.
After Thilina Wijesinghe had converted a 40-yard penalty, CH staged a fierce revival. The first time they entered Kandy’s 22, they almost made it pay. A couple of scrums, a rolling maul, all failed to get the home team over the line.
The CH was dominating the line outs, while Samuel Maduwantha, kept them in the hunt with some good line-kicking. Then it happened, Richard Dharmapala skied an open field and took off, Kandy worked the ball around for Danushka Ranjan to scuttle through for the first try. This was converted and Kandy led 10-0.
Kandy was penalised at this stage and Maduwantha made no mistake (10-3). CH withstood a fierce assault on their line. Reward came Kandy’s way when Wijesinghe was able to convert a penalty to stretch the lead to 13-3.
CH’s flyhalf dropped a simple pass which was picked up by the alert Kandy attackers. Down the line it went and Anuruddha Wilwara, one of the quickest wingers in the game, streaked through to touch down for a converted try (20-3). Rough play by Kandy resulted in a penalty that was slotted over by Maduwantha (20-6). Wijesinghe’s third penalty made the final score 23-6.
The lesson for teams that will face Kandy is to keep the ball away from their speedy outsides. Ranjan, Dharmapala and Wilwara are too skilful, speedy and innovative for most defences. The CH threw themselves at the fleeing Kandy players, at times, in a show of frustration. Kandy was kept down to 23 by the intensity of sprint displayed by the CH pack. Alas! their back division did not come up to scratch. A late replacement, Imanka Ariyapala, slowed that he should have been thrown in much earlier.
It may be due to the arrogance of youth, or to the superiority bred by success. But one of the Kandy players reacted very badly to a perfectly legitimate tackle.
What this game made clear was that Kandy SC will not surrender their title easily. Perhaps a team with a good pack and some incisive three quarters could do the trick. Is there such a team?