John Keells Blues clinch 50th Mercantile 7s
John Keells Holdings (JKH) Blues scraped through to overcome 3DH International by 10-7 to clinch the Cup title of the 50th Mercantile Rugby 7s Championship played at the CR&FC ground yesterday.
JKH Blue rattled the defence of 3DH International initially as Richard Dharmapala managed to score far left and gain his team an early lead. But 3DH retaliated minutes before the halftime break with an under-the-post try from Richard Dharmapala, which was converted, making it 7-5 in favour of them.
Both star-studded teams looked exhausted after turning out in at least three games under scorching conditions, but 3DH International would only have themselves to blame for failing to deliver the good in an intensely battled final. The losers were handed as much as four yellow cards in the second half, and were down to five men against seven, during two phases.
Yet they managed to hold on to their territory and safeguard their two-point lead up until Avishka Lee scraped through to score the decisive try in the final minute of the game.
However, an opportunity to earn a double by JKH was thwarted by Dialog Axiata, who retaliated to claim the Plate title, winning the game by 17-14 against JKH White. Despite an appalling game, Dialog Axiata forced JKH White to commit errors in the second half after trailing 5-7 at halftime. Mithun Hapugoda, Anuradha Herath and Nishon Perera scored for Dialog Axiata and two of the three tries were converted by Hapugoda. For the losers Ishan Fernando and Chathura Zoysa scored with Sandesh Jayawickrama converting both tries.
Sampath Bank defeated Brandix 17-12 to annex the Bowl title after leading the halftime by 10-7. Sampath Bank scored from three tries and a conversion while Brandix scored from two tries and a conversion. In a slow-paced game for the Shield title, Fairfirst beat Ceylinco to win the plum after scoring from a solitary unconverted try which came during the first half. The Women’s Tag final was won by NDB Bank, who beat Sampath Bank by 15-0.