Air Force and Police battle for honours
The two sides -- Air Force and Police -- will be looking for their maiden win when they meet each other at Ratmalana today - File pic by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi
Both beaten teams – the Air Force and Police who battle for honours today at Ratmalana have had their moments despite the defeats. Though conceding 46 points to the Havies, one of the main contenders for the title, the Airmen were able to garner 23 points for themselves. Quite a satisfying performance.
Led by Prop Pushpakumara Samarahewa, Air Force like to play a close, attacking game. Their strength probably lies in the back division with players such as Iddamalgoda, Charith Seneviratne and last year’s dashing Anthonian Centre Jehan Seelagama. Fly half Gayantha Iddamlgoda is a busy, hands on player, who flits from place to place, looking for scoring opportunities. Vastly experienced centre Charith Seneviratne, Master-minds the operations of the back division. Seelagama is fairly physical in his approach and likes to burst through the opposing defence.
The forwards are of lesser strength. Flanker Rodeesha Seneviratne has been around for sometime and adds value to the team. Tharaka Werella, the No.8, and Dinesh Weeraratne, the flanker, are two other big names in the Air Force line up. Full back Romesh Ramdas collects safely and likes to go forward in attack. The Airman may lack players of stature such as Ranjan and Dharmapala, but they are a nippy lot who make the best use of their resources.
Lest it be forgotten, they stunned Kandy SC 24-21 around the same time last season. That is something that most other clubs have tried to accomplish and failed. There were some phases during Police’s last game against Kandy when they performed almost as well as their opponents. In fact, for around fifteen minutes at the start of the second half, they were all over the Kandy twenty two metre area. They tried a few stratagems but Kandy’s defence proved to be a tough nut to crack. Coach Shamly Nawaz, it appears, has made a promising start.
Second row forwards Acharige and Udara Suriyapperuma jumped well to win a fair bit of good ball. Skipper Rasith Silva, the hooker, did his part adequately, while Shanaka Harischandra stood out in the back row. Fly half Sandesh Jayawickrema had a good game, where his ball distribution and the choice between kicking and passing was more or less spot on. Perhaps, he should have converted one or two kicks.
Police had good speed out on the wings through Sujan Kodituwakku and Niroshan Silva. On a few occasions they streaked along the touch line to pressure the Kandy defence. Both of them are willing runners. Uthpala Edirisinghe and Suranga Kasun share the full back’s duties. The former dropped a neat goal against Kandy.
As for a decision, it is hard to tell. The Air Force possibly has more momentum going for them. They will also be playing at home. However the Police are not a bad side and would like to think that they could be third time lucky.