Clinical Red Shirts have final say over spirited Sailors
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The game went to the wire before CR sealed the deal through a vital penalty - Pic by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi
Marred with errors and tricky situations from both sides, a game that could have gone either way was finally snatched by hosts CR&FC, who recorded a slender 23-20 win against Navy Sports Club in a Dialog Rugby League second round game played at Longdon Place yesterday.
Both teams had reasons to regret, short moments of glory, nerve-cracking moves and solid resistance. Yet the Red Shirts were the ones to earn the upper hand, despite trailing 13-17 at halftime.
Eventually the battle ended with a close win for the hosts, who collected their points from three tries, a conversion and a couple of penalties. The Sailors did well to dominate the first half, yet lost their grip as the game paced towards the end and finished off with a tally of two converted tries and two penalties.
Both teams did not have a few of their key players on the starting list, and the hosts felt the repercussions more than the Sailors, whose moves were more practical and tactical. CR opened the scoring with a penalty in the fourth minute by Stephen Sivaraj, who started off for their star kicker Tarinda Ratwatte. But it was the only brief period the hosts could muster their prowess against the more clinical Sailors, who went on to turn the game around and take the lead after a neat try from flanker Gihan Perera. With skipper Thilina Weerasinghe’s conversion Navy led 7-3.
Four minutes on CR, made a sudden burst, by managing to rattle the Navy defence for the first time with No.8 Omalka Gunaratne taking the honours by scoring an unconverted try. The home team regained the lead 8-7. But CR could not maintain their grasp for long as they conceded a penalty for foul play, to which Navy skipper Weerasinghe responded solidly to take back the lead by 10-8.
CR’s sudden fall was an advantage for the Sailors, who made sure of pursuing their attack, which paid off in the 23rd minute with try from prop Raveen de Silva. With Weerasinghe’s successful conversion their lead expanded to 17-8. Moments before the halftime, lock Shehan Dias barged through the Navy defence after a fine three-quarter move to score an unconverted try, as CR trailed 13-17 at the end of the first half.
The second half was a total contrast where the playing patterns were concerned. Navy did well to penetrate their opponents but fell short many a times to accomplish their effort into points. However in the 52nd minute scrumhalf Harith Bandara managed to cross the Navy line of defence and score a vital try under the post, ensuring a smooth conversion kick for Ratwatte, as CR regained the lead 20-17.
Eight minutes later the game came to a boiling point, soon after Weerasinghe had kicked a penalty for Navy to equalise 20-all. The final quarter was battled evenly but with both teams struggling to drive over the other, Navy were forced to commit an error, which gave CR a vital penalty and Ratwatte’s boot made sure his team earn another win.