Red Shirts prevail over Havies
After being forced to commit unforced errors and trail for most of the duration of the game, CR&FC regrouped to defeat Havelocks by 25-10 in their penultimate week’s game of the SLR Nippon Paint Club Rugby League played at Longdon Place yesterday.
Unlike in their previous outings, the Red Shirts were made to defend by their opponents, Havelocks, who were clinical and forceful. Havies led the halftime by 7-3, and continued their composure up until the final quarter of the game, before losing the once held stronghold.
The winners completed the game with a tally of four tries, a conversion and a penalty, and went on to gain crucial bonus points while remaining unbeaten alongside defending champions Kandy SC. Havelocks, who made an early inroad and completely flummoxed the Red Shirts during the entirety of the first half and even halfway through the second half, scored from a solitary converted try and a penalty.
Havelocks, who had a mixed tournament up until yesterday, adopted a completely different style, which rewarded them with an early try from flanker Udara Lakshan, who touched down in the eighth minute. With centre Samuel Maduwantha’s conversion they took an early lead of 7-0, and went on to add pressure continuously on their opponents.
With every move CR made being neatly thwarted by the Havies unit, the game moved on without any changes to the scoreboard for more than 20 minutes. But CR seized a penalty opportunity that came across in the 30th minute, which gave flyhalf Thenuka Nanayakkara and easy kick. Yet the home team trailed 3-7 as Havelocks continued to lead the halftime.
CR then gradually shifted pressure on to their opponents, but still continued to commit errors one after another. The only solace they gained was the running try scored by centre Gemunu Chethiya, which went unconverted as CR gained a slight 8-7 lead by the 47th minute.
The lead however, was brief, as Havelocks put over a penalty through centre Janith Chandimal in the 53rd minute to regain the lead by 10-8. The game shifted entirely by the 55th minute, after CR made counter moves to efforts made by Havelocks, and added an unconverted try through centre Manelka Ruberu, who ran through the opponent’s defence in the 58th minute.
Yet, owing to their own mishaps CR almost gave away chances to Havelocks, who were a worn out unit by the final phase of the game. Youngster Kushan Tharindu, coming in as a winger, received the ball all the way from the right end of the field, as he ran across the Havelocks defence and scored in the left corner for an unconverted try in the 72nd minute. With a healthy led of 18-10, CR paced up their attack, as Havies found it difficult to counter unlike in the earlier parts of the game.
CR completed the game with a rolling maul, which covered almost 30 yards to give forward Venura Kodagoda the opportunity to brace their bonus point try. With Nanayakkara’s conversion CR completed the game at 25-10, as they focus on finishing off their first round with an unblemished record against title holders Kandy SC at Nittawela next Saturday.