Havies record fifth straight win to remain unbeaten
Table leaders Havelocks SC almost had their unblemished record ended, but a late burst ensured they complete their fifth win, triumphing over Police SC by 21-14 in a fifth week game of the SLR Club League Championship played at Police Park yesterday.
Leading the halftime 14-7, the Havies pulled off their win with a tally of three converted tries, with two of them coming from centre Randitha Warnapura and one being a penalty try. The Cops were resilient and hard to overcome at set pieces, yet they managed to score through two converted tries and a penalty.
The game started off with a bang with the hosts unleashing their intentions and totally taking control of the game, allowing no room for their opposition to counter. Their efforts paid dividends in the eighth minute, when hooker Rasith Silva crashed over to score a try, and with flyhalf Yohan Peiris’ conversion Police SC took the honour of taking the lead 7-0.
They played gallantly, maintaining their onslaught with consistency, but the overconfident Cops totally lost control in the 16th minute, thus offering a penalty try to Havelocks for foul play. With Police fullback Suranga Kasun being given a yellow card for the offence, Havelocks regrouped to turn the game around and were able to penetrate the so-far solid Police defence to score a try in the 18th minute. Warnapura touched down and flyhalf Sandesh Jayawickrama converted try to put Havies in front 14-7. Police played with 14 men up until the halftime with try scorer Silva being given a yellow card soon after Kasun rejoined the team. But this made very little impact on the Cops.
Soon after the resumption Police cut down the deficit, by putting over a penalty in the 43rd minute. Peiris’ kick made sure they trailed just by three points, yet Havies led 14-10. The Cops sensed a breakthrough when Havies were brought down to 14 men, with lock Umesh Madushan being given a yellow card in the 68th minute.
Making use of the opportunity forward Heshan Thilakaratne flummoxed the Havies, by bracing down and with Peiris’ conversion, Police SC were in the lead by 17-14 with 10 minutes for the final whistle.
However, they were unable to hold on to the lead and capitalise on the advantage for more than five minutes. Havies centre Warnapura found a breakthrough to barge in and with Jayawickrama’s conversion, they regained the lead 21-14, which the visitors were able to hold on to until the final whistle. Havies forward Christian De Lile will miss next week’s game after he was shown a red card for dangerous play with just two minutes on the clock.