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Sports

Police sees the blues
Army 9, Police 8
By Bernie Wijesekera
Police awarded a penalty kick seconds before the long whistle (injury time) 22 meteres out near the corner flag. Kenyan fly-half took the kick but to his dismay it hit the upright and rebounded to rob the blue shirts a victory in a hard fought first leg "A" league match at Galle Face last evening. Army won by 9 points (3 penalties) to 8 points (a try and a penalty).

The venue was earlier scheduled to be at Police Park, but due to the May Day it was shifted to Galle Face. The game was watched by a large crowd despite being confronted with restricted traffic movements. Army were leading 6-5 at the short whistle.

A thin drizzle prevailed in the entire second half and it was ideal for rugby with both sets of forwards fighting a relentless battle in the loose. The conditions underfoot was soggy, and this resulted by a spate of injuries to both sides.

The blue-shirted team despite not winning much of the good ball in the initial half lost opportunities of scoring due to poor ball handling and lack of thinking. Further, aimless kicking into the waiting hands of their opponents. In addition Police fullback Dhanushka Pubudu failed to collect the high ball on more than one occasion and gave the Army forwards the chance to relish in the loose.

The soldiers played a rough and tumble game and their better ball handling saw them gaining advantage. They had the burning desire to win this blockbuster. However they must thank the kicking boots of T.A.Silva, who scored all the points through three well directed penalties to give Army the wafter-thin win.

Despite the Army winning much of their long throws through Jayasuriya the backline failed to co-ordinate. Police made a couple of changes in the second half. Scrum half Anjula Silva was replaced by seasoned Sudath Sampath, who played an intelligent game from the base-flicking the ball to fly half Fijian Luke, but the three quarters failed to find the rhythm.

The only try of the match was scored by Police flanker Herath off a good move. Luke failed to add the extra points. After the turnaround the Police took the lead when Harshana Wijeweera put over a spot kick. 8-6.

They could have gone further ahead but Wijeweera missed a sitter under the post. The Army forwards playing a ferocious game in the loose with some firm tackling held on to the lead and win the game in a cliff hanger. During the injury time the Cops were firing on all cylinders. Apparently it was a controversial penalty. Ref. Anil Jayasinghe when questioned said that according to him it was a deliberate knock on which resulted in a penalty off the ensuing ruck.

But Luke fluffed with the kick.
In the end Army survived to retire to their barracks with a sigh of relief. Today: CH and FC vs Air Force play at Maitland Crescent . CH should have their own way in this game as they are fielding a much experienced team plus foreigners in their squad.

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