Army play with spirit and CH crash land
The Soldiers were in full confident as they marched to a win - Pic by Ranjith Perera
Fifteen Army ruggerites played the game of their life to upset the highly fancied CH&FC team by 24 points (3 goals, 1 penalty) to 18 (1 goal, 1 try, 1 penalty, 1 drop goal) in a Dialog Rugby League 2018 match at the Police grounds.
At halftime, the losers were in the lead at 13-10.
For CH, Samuel Maduwantha made no mistake with a 45-yard penalty in line with the posts. One of the stars of Army’s show, fullback Gayan Salinda, who was flawless with his conversions, knocked over the equalising penalty.
Around the 22nd minute, the CH backs swung into action. Fullback Hirantha Perera linked up and sent a long pass to winger Naveen Henakankanamge, who was over the line, deep right. Maduwantha made it 10-3.
Not to be outdone, the Army’s forwards and backs linked up to provide some thrills. Centre Sameera Bulathsinhala fought his way over the line. Salinda’s conversion tied the scores at 10-all.
Minutes away from the short whistle, fly half Maduwantha found himself well positioned for a drop kick. He duly obliged and the CH had the lead 13-10.
The Army players parked themselves in their opponents’ territory for the first 20 minutes or so of the second half, in a series of thrilling moves. Forwards and backs combined well to endeavour to cross the line. The CH held them, but it was perilous. Army fans were deflated as they felt that they had touched down once or twice in that period when they were battling it out tooth and nail.
Referee Priyantha Gunaratne thought otherwise. There was a referral about a try by the Army, but that too went against them.
The sheer intensity and ferocity of the Army effort had to pay dividends. Fly half Ashan Bandara did the honours and Salinda kicked over the conversion.
The second half started with plenty of drama. The kick off caused problems for the CH who were unable to clear the ball safely. The kick was sliced and it went out not that for from the line. The Army was there in a flash. Lock forward Thirusha Adikaram grabbed the ball and went over, despite CH’s efforts to stop him. Gayan Salinda, who was having the game of his life, obliged once more.
There is a Sinhala saying ‘Bokken Gahanawa’. This eloquently testified Army’s effort. It was straight from the heart. They sensed midway in the game that they were in with a chance. They pursued that whole-heartedly and with undisguised zeal.
Maduwantha kept CH in front early on with his penalty and drop goal. Players like Rohitha Rajapaksa, Nishon Perera, Chathura Dilshan and Matheesha Sarathchandra tried to arrest the slide. But against a highly-charged and deeply motivated Army team, their efforts were of no avail.
Coach Viper Gunaratne has had his detractors, his ups and downs. But no one can take away from him the glory of this performance. With this win, the Army has restored the faith of their fans.
Sailors down Airmen
A hat-trick of tries by winger Buddima Piyaratne helped Navy SC record a convincing 43-25 win against Air Force SC in a Dialog Rugby League 2018 match played at Ratmalana. The game was well fought out by both sides as the halftime score of 14-all indicates.
Eventually the Sailors went on to score with a tally of six tries, five conversions and a penalty. The Airmen’s final score was made up of three tries, two conversions and two penalties.
Piyaratne touched down in the 15th, 51st and 70th minutes while Charith Janitha contributed two tries, which came in the 26th and 72nd minutes. Nishan Perera touched down for the Sailors in the 59th minute. Fullback Thilina Weerasinghe kicked over five tries and a penalty.
For the Air Force, Gayan Iddamalgoda touched down in the 26th minute followed by a try from Pathmasanka Weerasinghe in the 40th minute. Charith Seneviratne converted both tries in the first half and followed up his good footwork to put over two penalties in the second. Suraj Thilakaratne scored a late try in the 62nd minute before the Sailors made a strong response prior to the final whistle.