Navy seek turn around
Navy buoyed by the return of former skipper Yoshitha Rajapaksa are expected to give a Police a good fight in the Dialog Club Rugby League Championship second round clash at Police Park today. Kick-off is at 4.15pm.
Yoshitha is back in training with the Navy squad for the past week and may make an impact if he is included in the 23-man side on match day.
However, it remains to be seen whether Lady Luck will smile on the sailors who have had mixed fortunes this season despite playing an exciting brand of expansive rugby backed by their heavyweight pack.
They dictated terms to CR&FC at Welisara last week but after having led for most of the match were denied by a last-gasp try during injury time to go down 23-19.
They nearly upset defending champions Kandy SC in the first round losing by the barest of margins 16-14 and led 8-7 against Police before going down 26-18 in the earlier encounter.
The Navy backs have shown lot of enterprise with skipper Richie Dharmapala and fly half Isuru Kongahawatte combining effectively to unleash winger Chathura Seneviratne. However, their scrummaging has been suspect though they have some good ball winners and fiery forwards such as Adeesha Weerathunga, Gihan Perera and Radeesha Senevirathne.
Police on the other hand will be hoping to retain their number two position and possibly win with a bonus point playing in their backyard.