Cops secure Plate title, despite losing to Airmen
Air Force recorded their fourth win of the season, as they recorded a runaway 26-5 win against Police in the final week game of the SLR Nippon Paint Club Rugby League played at Ratmalana yesterday. The win however, could not prevent Police from being crowned the Plate champions, despite suffering their fifth defeat of the season, after fielding a second string outfit in a virtual dead rubber.
The Airmen, who were fully dominant throughout the game, led the halftime by 12-5, and scored from four tries and three conversions, while earning a bonus point to finish behind yesterday’s opponents in the Plate standings. The Cops were able to respond with a solitary unconverted try, as they were totally outdone by the aggressive Airmen, who finishes off with 24 points after 10 games. Police ends with 30 points with five each of wins and losses in 10 outings.
After a cautious start, the Airmen gradually took over control of the game as they led 5-0 by the 10th minute after Ishara Madushan braced an unconverted try. With both teams failing to penetrate each other’s regions in the following phase, the Cops staged a slight return to their usual form, but Isuru Jayaratne breached their space to score a try in the 22nd minute. With Madushan’s conversion they expanded the lead to 12-0.
Police found themselves teaming up as a unit after a few breakthrough moves, and this resulted in Sameera Jayasinghe going over for an unconverted try, their only in the game, in the 32nd minute as both teams took the halftime break at 12-5 with Air Force leading.
Both sides failed to score after the resumption up until the final few minutes, despite Air Force holding the upper hand almost entirely during the second half. But the Cops, who had a few opportunities change the fate of the game, gave up their stance during the last 10 minutes of the game. It was the phase where Air Force capitalised with their experience and managed to score twice – first through Pramod Padmasanka in the 70th minute, followed by a try from Sashika Fernando off a forward move in the 79th minute, to seal the game. With Madushan converting both tries Air Force sealed the game by a comprehensive margin of 21 points.