CR return to beat Cops
Trailing 0-6 at halftime CR&FC bounced back to beat Police - Pic by Eshan Fernando
CR&FC perhaps made the greatest recovery in its history to clinically outsmart a thorough professional Police SC unit 19-6, after being taken to the cleaners in the initial half, in a second week clash of the SLR Nippon Paint Club Rugby League match played at Police Park yesterday.
After being totally outdone in the first half by Police, who led the first half 6-0 with two penalties, the Red Shirts bounced back to score from three tries and two conversions to claim a victory with a margin of 13 points.
After their resounding 41-22 win against Navy SC last week, the Cops displayed they had elevated a level further from the first whistle. The defence was solid, as well as their set of forwards, who proved to be stronger than their opponents’. The Cops forced the Red Shirts to commit mistakes and whenever scoring opportunities came across they made sure to grab and add more pressure on their nemesis. This was surprisingly a below par approach from the Red Shirts, who thrashed Army SC by 55-8 at Panagoda last week.
Flyhalf Prince Chamara made sure his side took the advantage by putting over two penalties that came Police SC’s way in the 17th and 21st minutes. Additionally, they made sure CR did not move beyond a certain point and enter their territory at any given time.
However, slightly before halftime, winger Gemunu Chethiya received a perfectly executed three-quarter move and crossed the tryline, on which he knocked on the ball to add more frustration on the Red Shirts and their followers.
The second half too, the Red Shirts had to gulp down the frustration for more than 20 minutes, until No.8 Shanaka Hettiarachchi managed to breach the Police defence and brace a try. But they still trailed 5-6 after Lasindu Karunathilake failed to put over the conversion, from a difficult angle.
After finding the much needed breakthrough, CR managed to transfer the frustration to their waning opponents, who once again shackled in the 67th minute. Lock Hafiz Thabith was the try scorer for CR. Scrumhalf Mithun Hapugoda, who took over the kicking duties after Karunathilake, made his first success conversion from two attempts.
With the game fluctuating after CR had gained the lead 12-6, both sides had missed chances to add more points, yet found themselves defending their territories perfectly. But with the momentum they gained earlier, CR were given the assurance of securing victory when Harischandra braced his second try of the game in the dying stage of the game. With Hapugoda’s conversion they sealed the deal by 19-6.