Kandy top of the hill; Airmen run out of gas
Srinath Sooriyabandara scored one of the tries of the match, he parried an attempted kick on the goal line and fell on the ball to score - Pic by Amila Gamage
Kandy SC kept up the momentum with their ninth win of the Dialog League tournament; scoring a smashing 64 points to 12 win over the Air Force. Kandy dumped seven goals and three tries at Ratmalana, yesterday.
The Airmen scored a try and were awarded a penalty try. The scores might indicate that it was one way street for the winners. It was not so. The Airmen were swept off their feet by a typical try-rush by Kandy early on. They gave away 45 points in the first half.
However, the Air Force did not permit Kandy to add to the half time tally of 45-12 for around ten minutes in the second half. In this period, they made sporadic raids and gained ground. But the winners guarded their territory jealously.
Last year’s Anthonian center Jehan Seelagama had a good game being involved in many an Air Force move. Winger Padmasanka, Iddamalgoda, Sooriyakrishan and Seneviratne cannot be faulted for not trying. The plucky Air Force pressurised the defence many a times but could not go the whole hog.
Kandy were without Roshan Weeraratne and Dharmapala but the stand-ins Sooriyabandara and Ratwatte did not let the team down in any way.
In fact Sooriyabandara scored one of the tries of the match, when he parried an attempted kick on the goal line and fell on the ball to score. The Kandy players, as usual operated at full tilt and flung the ball around. But there was a always a player to latch on.
They had possession aplenty from the scrums, rucks and mauls.
However locks Adikari and Nilantha Jayaweera were able to beat Kandy’s jumpers to the ball on a few occasions.Wilwara was scorching along the left try line and a score looked a formality. Tackled to a standstill, he found Shehan Pathirana in close support. That was typical of Kandy’s performance. There were no 50,60 yards runs by the rampant Kandy back division. What they did well was for two or three players to always support the man with the ball.
Early on, Ranjan ran on to a pass and touched down unopposed leaving Wijesingha with the easiest of conversions. Wijesingha was a heavy contributor for Kandy with a try and seven conversions. However in his enthusiasm he tended to go solo and paid the penalty on one or two occasions.
In the middle of all this , the Air Force were rewarded for very good attacking play. The backs used short passes to begin with and then a long pass was switched to winger Ishara Madushan who touched down by the right corner flag. Iddamalgoda failed to convert.
They had a lucky break when they were breathing down the necks of the Kandy players on the goal line. A high tackle was made and referee Priyantha Gunaratne awarded a penalty try.
Dayan Danush scored a dandy try when he broke away with Marija, came inside of him and proceeded over the line. Wijesingha added the points. Udangamuwa and hooker Uchitha Jayasuriya also went over.
What this game proved (if proof were at all needed) is that the Kandy team is functioning at peak efficiency. They take on CR next Saturday in their own backyard and the Longdon place club cannot be relishing the prospect.