Nip and tuck, but Police have final say
The Cops stunned the Red Shirts, who were shackled by more than one reason - Pic by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi
The Police continued their recent wave of success with an, at times, improbable win (21-18) over the CR. The winners scored a goal, a try and 3 penalties as against the goal, try and two penalties that their opponents obtained.
There was a sombre, solemn touch prior to the match, followed by two minutes silence in memory of CR’s prop Kokila Sammandaperuma. His parents and brother (the latter a former captain of CR) were present.
It seemed that the sad occasion had got to the CR players as they were quite low-key in the opening half. The Police, as usual, were robust and rousing, and brought the crowd to their feet with some exciting breaks. In fact, centre Iroshan Silva almost scored, ten minutes from the start when he made a splendid solo run of about 50 yards. He had only one defender to beat, but he failed to do so.
They stayed in CR’s 22, and Janith Chandimal converted a penalty to open scoring. The CR struck back immediately when their backs were swarming all over the Police 22. All of a sudden the ball was passed to centre Sumudu Rankothge who went over by the right corner flag. Reeza Rafaideen converted and CR led 7-3.
Having missed an easy drop kick, Police’s fly half Janith Chandimal was successful with two penalty efforts. These enabled the winners to lead 9-7 at the short whistle.
The first half was probably the Police’s. They had a fair share of the lines out and also of possession.
CR’s number eight Omalka Gunaratne electrified the small crowd present, at the start of the second half by speeding away – like a runaway locomotive – for well over 50 yards to score. Power he always had, but his speed was a surprise. The Police had no answer. Ratwatte, who made a second half appearance, failed to convert, (CR 12: Police 9).
It was then that the Silva brothers combined to deliver a stunning try. Iroshan, the centre and his younger sibling Sachith, the winger, got together to produce Police’s second try. Iroshan made a sudden break from midfield and was haring for the line. When tackled, Sachith was on hand to collect and dive over. (Police 14: CR 12).
Ratwatte kicked a penalty to get CR into the lead. He followed up with another, this time a 50 yard kick from in front of the posts. CR were in the lead at 18-14 and, to all intents and purposes they seemed to have done enough to win.
But the Police refused to be counted out. They stayed in CR’s 22 and tried a couple of rolling mauls, before Chamika Dumith was able to creep through a packed defence on the line to score. Janith Chandimal, the full back, put the icing on the cake, with the conversion.
The CR played much better in the second half. Kevin Dixon looked dangerous on the few occasions he got the ball. Omalka Gunaratne was a menace, most times.
The Bible says that the meek shall inherit the Earth. This was the case as the Police is a team that has hardly any players from elite schools. Their success was hard earned and deserved.