Unstoppable hill club lads march on peerlessly
Not a perfect ten, but the Kandy team did enough to convince rugby fans of their class and calibre. There were a couple of spilled passes. Also a wayward pass or two. But the champions showed their irresistible quality as they made light of another challenge. This time from the CR. The end result was a 50 points (5 goals, 3 tries) to 15 (a goal, a try and a penalty) win at Nittawela yesterday.
In truth it is difficult to see this team being beaten. Even without Udangamuwa, who was forced to sit this one out, and Wilwara, the team carried far too many guns for the Longdon Place team.
Fazil Marija played almost to his best – His handling, dummies and ball distribution was very, very good. He broke through once and it was finished off by Suriyabandara. The latter produced another superb performance.
As usual, Kandy went on the attack with the kick off, but the CR put up a brave defence. After a while Kandy camped outside the line and Thamindu Chaturanga went over (7-0). Kandy got the bit between their teeth and a couple of tries came in quick succession. Ranjan dummied his way through and touched down. Nigel Ratwatte who could do no wrong at this stage converted for a 21-0 lead.
CR winger Chamod Fernando made a fine run along the touch line and entered Kandy’s 22. The move broke down, but CR persisted and Reffaideen shoved over a penalty (21-3).
Jason made a good break at this point. His pass was beautifully collected, one-handed by Suriyabandara. But CR was just able to avert a score.
There was some amusement when, with the heat of the moment, Marija tackled by a team mate.
It was noticeable that the longer the game went on, the more CR came into the picture. The forwards were doing their job, and the CR backs kept hammering at the defence. Ratwatte broke through and caused excitement. He looked round, but seemed to lack support. Half time was taken at 21-3.
The Kandy line was moving at top speed and was quite a sight to behold. Nigel Ratwatte, in particular, was outstanding, collecting well and spraying passes all round.
A diagonal run, and a few dummies, saw Ranjan hand over to Nigel Ratwatte to do the honours. Tarinda Ratwatte, who came on late, certainly made a difference. He broke through and ran around 30 yards, but gave out a weak pass as he slipped. But the team saw to it that his effort wasn’t wasted by scoring within minutes. Reffaideen went over but could not convert.
There was time enough for one more desperate attempt to cross the Kandy line. Charana Chamikara did the seemingly impossible. The conversion was missed, but with it went referee Rohan Fernando’s final whistle.