Sports - Hosts huff puff but win

The hosts prevailed in the lung opener of the ‘A’ Division rugby tournament at Longden Place last evening. CR & FC despite looking a bit rusty defeated Army by 26 points (4 tries and 2 penalties) to 16 (1 goal and 3 penalties).

The game was essentially between CR’s forwards and Army’s backs.

In the first half the hosts certainly looked like a side who were playing their first game of the season. Both were guilty of turnovers which exceeded the double figure mark in the first 20 minutes. The situation was not helped by referee Aruna Jayasekera who was a trifle too whistle happy.

CR scored first when Viraj Prasanna scored a push over unconverted try by the left corner flag. Army’s centre H. Wickremasinghe hit back off a flowing backline move. Sri Lanka and Army full back Ajith Silva converted and put over a penalty shortly after to give the Soldiers a five point cushion. CR equalized with a freak try. Given a penalty in front of the posts, centre Sendil Kumar missed it. But the ball ricocheted of the left corner post and half back Zulki Hamid touched down. Another penalty by Silva gave Army the lead at lemons.

The second half belonged to CR. The introduction R.Wedakapola injected some much needed pace in CR’s backline. Kumar leveled the scores right after the restart. Flanker Pavithra Fernando showed what the national team is missing with fine try. Wekadapola touched down and another penalty gave the hosts a 13 point lead. Despite being awarded a string of penalties in the final stages, Army could manage only three points. In the under 23 tournament game that preceded the main game CR & FC easily defeated Colombo University by 22 points to 3.