Kandy Sports Club prevailed yet again. They were out this season to continue their mission. Their mission was to keep custody of the Caltex League Trophy which they initially won in 2001. Unlike previous years this year’s run was not smooth as silk for the Kandy lads. They had to hand off some issues on and off the field. In fact the major was the Nuwan Hettiarachchi issue which nearly cost them the plum.
Kandy Sport Clubs’ second coming was in 1992 after its existence for more than 125 years. Until then there wasn’t a single trophy against their name and in the cupboard at Nittawela Club House. In the last two decades the Upcountry club has won the league title 16 times and the Clifford Cup Knock-out Tournament the same number of times. In addition to this their winning streak continues in the shorter version of the game from 1999 onwards.
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| Kandy enjoyed another good season |
In 1992 Kandy SC saw its life after death. This year most of the Kandy born players (Some born and bred in Colombo too) representing Colombo Rugby Football Club (CR & FC) pulled out due to a dispute in leadership and joined their home town club. The captaincy issue was between Former Trinity “Lion” Imthisam Marikkar who was the most senior player.
Players in the calibre of Priyantha Ekanayake, Shiyam Sideek, Laxman Ekanayake and Rizvi Suhaib along with Imthisam Marikkar joined the Kandy SC. The same year the up country club got the service of three outstanding Fijians in the name of Kitoni Ratudrada, Bati Ponniah and Willi Moni Satala. From this point onwards they were totally a different outfit winning trophies after trophies. The club also pulled in large number of spectators to wherever they play either in Kandy or Colombo.
Kandy had a good season compared to earlier years with stiff opposition coming from clubs such as CR & FC, Navy and even Havelocks. Also Kandys start for the season was not so auspicious as their appointed captain Saliya Kumara being tested positive for band substance in the HSBC Asian Five Nations encounter against UAE in Colombo along with another promising schoolboy Ruggerite Keith Gurusinghe. Even their play maker, number 8 and national skipper Sean Wijesinghe missed the entire Caltex league due to a damaged knee at the Asian Five Nations Tournament game against Japan. The side was led by stand in skipper Buddhika Thalagampola, Fazil Marija and Senaka Bandara.
This culminated in a few unimpressive wins and a loss to flamboyant Navy in their second round game at Welisara. Kandy SC opened the season with Havelocks and huffed and puffed to beat them at 18-13 and then continued their winning ways against CH & FC (41-19), Army (51-6), Police (22-11) Air Force (17-11), Navy (15-12) and CR & FC (22-15). In the second round they lost to Navy SC 29-25 at Welisara. The game against CR & FC was an easy one in Kandy as they thrashed the Longden Place club 36-8. In the final outing they had to beat Havelocks at Nittawela, since their points for the win against CH & FC was not awarded due to a court case filed by Navy SC. However they won that crucial game at 23-12.
Kandy Sports Club for 2011 comprised the following players --Kishore Jehan, Achala Perera, Kasun Yasaisuru, Senaka Bandara, Dinesh Sanjeewa, Kasun de Silva, Asitha Ratnayake, Sajith Saranga, Roshan Weeraratne and Fazil Marija, Mohammed Jabbar, Pradeep Liyanage, Gayan Weeraratne, Dinesh Kumar, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe, Tharindu Chanaka, Prasad Chathuranga, Damith Dissanayake, Sanka Rajaguru, Amila Bandara, Oshan Perera, Lavanga Perera, Liston Flatney, Shashika Jayawardena and Heshan de Silva,
The team was managed by former Isipathana and Sri Lankan ruggerite Kapila Silva who took over from Indrajith Bandaranayake who migrated to Australia in 2007. Kapila speaking to the Sunday Times said “hats off to the team despite of lot of obstacles on and off the field. The team did really well to retain the league for yet another year”. He also praised Dr Suraweera and his team for the support given and lastly the disciplined players who were very corporative.
Kandy Sports Club is sponsored by Etisalat and Singer Sri Lanka with trustee Malik Samarawickrema carrying lot of financial burden on his shoulders. Malik who played for Royal as a scrum half from 1966-1968 later played for CR & FC. Malik also represented the Low Country and Sri Lanka President XV before hanging up his boots in 1977. He is also the founder member of the Singer Sri Lankan Rugby Sevens which started in 1999. The club was coached by South African Johan Taylor and Lasantha Wijesuriya was the Rugby Chairman of the Kandy Sports Club.
The following are the past captains of the Kandy SC winning the League from 2001 onwards: Nalaka Weerakkody (2001), Pradeep Basnayake (2002), Sajith Mallikarachchi (2003), Radhika Hettiarachchi (2004), Sanjeewa Jayasinghe (2005), Sajith Mallikarachchi (2006), Jeewa Galgamuwa (2007), Sean Wijesinghe (2008), Pradeep Liyanage (2009) and Fazil Marija (2010), Saliya Kumara (2011).
Ironically unlike the other years Kandy SC did not receive the League Trophy right after the last game against the Havelocks as it customarily occurs. The reason the SLRFU held it back on the weight of the legal wrangle that the Sailors had taken the club through owing to the Nuwan Hettiarachchi issue. According to Tournament Director Caltex League -Jehan Canagaretna, now the Caltex League will be awarded at the conclusion of the Clifford Cup Final. |
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