CH end Havies upsurge

CH & FC 32 Havelocks 10

By Harry Jayachandra

CH and FC clinched third place in the Caltex ‘A” Division rugby tournament. They defeated Havelocks by 32 points (3 goals 1 try and 2 penalties) to 10 (1 goal and 1 penalty) in their league return played at Maitland Crescent yesterday.

A Havelocks player looks for a break, but is held back by a posse of CH defenders. Pic. by Ranjith Perera

The score line does not reflect the true picture of the game. Instead it shows the immaturity of the entire Havelocks team. The Park Club who pulled off the biggest upset of the season last week by defeating CR and FC, were unable to sustain the same form. Despite having more possession and territorial advantage, Havelocks were guilty of miserable ball handling.

CH started off brightly. They were awarded a penalty in just the third minute of play which centre Saliya Kumara converted with ease. In the 15th minute Havelocks stand off Sajith Bandara fluffed an easy penalty conversion. A few minutes later CH increased their lead when winger Nishantha Kumara made a sixty yard dash to touch down by the left corner flag. Kumara converted. The home side increased their lead on the stroke of Lemons when Zakir Badurdeen slung out a superb pass for Milinda Jayasinghe to touch down by the right corner flag . Kumara’s conversion attempt hit the left upright and fell back in to play.

In the forty seventh minute of the second half Sajith Bandara put the Park Club on the scoreboard with an easy penalty conversion. CH hit back off the restart with Kumara putting over a penalty to increase their lead 18 points to 3.

From then on it was more or less one way traffic. In the 55th minute Dilan Ekanayake touched down and Ekanayake made no mistake with the conversion. In front of a sparse crowd, Havelocks finally managed to string a few phases without dropping the ball. This resulted in flanker Ravi Jayasuriya going over the line. Bandara converted. Just minutes later Badurdeen put the cream on top for the home side with a touch down which was converted by Kumara. No silverware unfortunately for a third place finish. Thus both sides will hope for improved performances when the Clifford Cup kicks off on the 29th of this month.