Havies through in lacklustre game
Havies were not in their usual form - Pic by Sameera Weerasekara
Rugby fans were sated with some excellent rugby these past two weeks. The CR-Kandy game was gripping and had spectators on the edge of their seats. The Kandy-Havies encounter was also quite dramatic.
By contrast, the Havies – CR was a bit tepid and devoid of much drama. Of course there was a bit of intensity and competitiveness. The Havies were more prominent in attack in the opening half whereas the CR showed more intent and aggression in the second. A 21 points (3 goals) to 14 (2 goals) win for the Havies was just about deserved.
The CR must be kicking themselves for a couple of missed opportunities. Gemunu Chetiya made a splendid break and covered around forty yards. But the move broke down for lack of support.
Kavindu Perera was heading for the line which wasn’t all that far away. Boxed in, he lobbed an inside pass which was promptly dropped by a teammate. There were also at least two instances of passes being dropped when CR were in attacking positions. The Havies forwards played their usual bustling game and resorted to the diving maul quite a bit. They gained considerable ground on a couple of occasions.
Havies centre Theekshana Dissanaike opened the scoring when he made a good break from around ran around 40 yards out. He ran and swerved but he was half-stopped. He overcame that and seeing a big gap opening in front of him, went through. Reza Mubarak added the extra points.
Mubarak then dashed straight down the middle before off loading to Niroshan Fernando. But the CR defence was able to nip that in the bud.
Chetiya’s attempted interception came to naught as he knocked on. But his perseverance paid off a couple of minutes later. He worked a nice one-two with Harith Bandara before going on to touch down. Ratwatte converted.
The rest of the half was spent in vain efforts to break the deadlock. Mubarak failed with a relatively easy 40 yard penalty. Dissanaike was very prominent in the Havies attacking moves. Seven all at the break.
Mithun Hapugoda who entered the fray in the second half showed plenty of zest. He caught the ball when it came his way off a forward’s rush and went over. Mubarak made the score 14-7. He was at it again a few minutes later, side stepping his way to the try line. It was 21-7 at this stage as Mubarak obliged.
Then came that fight back of sorts by the CR. Rahul De Silva gave a smart inside pass to skipper Kavindu Perera who had come alongside. A gap seemed to open up as the CR skipper strolled through. Stephen Sivaraj put this over for the score to read 21-14.
The result showed that Martis, or no Martis, the Havies remain a force to be reckoned with.
It was nice to see youngsters Gemunu Chethiya, Harith Bandara (CR) and Theekshana Dissanaike (Havies) making good use of the opportunities given them.
Referee – Charlie Brown.