Kandy huff and puff to down spirited Police
Kandy almost choaked before securing a thrilling win - Pic by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi
To all intents and purposes, Kandy SC doesn’t seem to have got over that demoralizing defeat at the hands of the soldiers. Yesterday at Police Park, they barely survived the constant threat posed by a fighting Police team to crawl out winners by 27 points (2 goals 2 tries a penalty) to 20 (a goal, 2 tries, a penalty).
This certainly wasn’t the Kandy of old – the Kandy of the blistering speed, the team that dummied, side stepped and blitzed their way to glory. This was a more ordinary-looking side that found it difficult to finish off a team that was lying sixth in the table.
Full marks to the Police who played above their station. The Kandy team that led 24-10 at the break, could only add a last minute penalty to their tally. It was strange to see a championship winning side lost for ideas. Players were looking around for instructions, but there was not much said by the captain. Kicking to touch or kicking for goal – that was the bone of contention. Confused and reduced to normalcy, the Kandy team must have breathed a huge sigh of relief when Referee Dinka Pieris finally blew for no side.
The Police gave a spirited display but what unhinged them was their inability to break through Kandy’s solid defence. Territorially, the Police was at an advantage.They hovered at, or near, the goal line for many moments. But lack of finesse, and also finish, cost them dear.
As usual Kandy went on the attack at the start. Thilina Wijesinghe spotted a little gap and kicked a grubber. This was followed up by Vishwamitra Jayasinghe who collected and went over.Wijesinghe converted.
Police’s defence was rather thin on the left and Lavanga Perera, the winger was able to crash through for a try. It was Sachith Silva’s turn to convert a simple penalty and cut the score down to 12-3.
Some slick passing and good handling by the backs enabled Jayasinghe to score his second try (A feat he has achieved quite regularly) 17-3.
Police gained some reward when hooker Rasith Silva broke through from a line out to score. Sachith Silva converted and Police were now within touching distance (17-10). Bhuweneka Udangamuwa took a hand in the proceedings. He crashed through a few defenders and then ran around to score under the posts. Wijesingha’s conversion made it 24-10 for the winners at lemons.
The Police tried and tried again to push their way over the line. But Kandy’s defence was unyielding. Suddenly, the Police changed plans and ran the ball. Winger Gihan Silva fell over with the tackle, just inside the right corner flag (24-15). The losers seemed to have intensified their efforts. Prop Hashan Fernando fell over for Police’s third try. This too went unconverted.
It was 24-20 for around ten minutes, with the Police trying every trick in the book for another scoring effort. At this point, referee Dinka Peiris awarded a penalty to the Kandy side and this was eagerly grabbed by Wijesinghe to make the final tally 27-20.