Kandy Sports Club was crowned Dialog Clifford Cup Champions for the year 2015 after a lapse of three years as they went on to massacre the Police infantry running riot at the Nittawela stadium in a high scoring final this evening to mark a conclusion for the Dialog Club Rugby Season for the years 2014/2015. The final score read 77-7 in favor of Kandy.
Earlier in the month, skipper Sean Wijesinghe led the Kandy side to their first league title victory in three years and this win came in as the icing on the cake. Police SC however had the tough road to the finals beating Air Force to get through whilst the league contenders had an easy entrance beating CR & FC in their Semi-Finals to gain access directly onto the finals.
It was “Go, get ‘em” for the Kandyans right from the start of the kick off whistle in front of a jam packed audience in the pavilions of Nittawela who had come to witness their team play and witness Sean Wijesinghe for one last time in the Kandy jersey. Kandy settled into business right away as the Kenyan Oscar broke through the Policemen taking two on his shoulder as he made a off load to Marcele Gronewald who touched down for the first try. This try hyped the player chemistry as right away from the restart, it was Anrudhdha Wilwara who side stepped through the open gaps of the crumbled Police line making another offload on to Marcele who did the honors in scoring. The Man in form Marcele, opening for the first time in this encounter was in full swing as the next try for the Kandy side came once again through his efforts; this time he single handedly sped through the open gaps covering over 40 meters to score his hat-trick of tries.
With Roshan Weeraratna converting all three of the Marcele tries, this game had already drifted away in less than ten minutes. (21-0) However it was Apisai Naqaliva who got momentum when he booted a free moving ball and later placed it on the try area to bring Police their first and only try. (21-7).
It was one way traffic from then. Kandy utilizing the place kicking of Fazil Marija got themselves within distance to the try line as their forwards rolled forward with skipper Sean Wijesinghe scoring in his last encounter. (26-7)
The Kenyan Oscar Ouma had been the highlight of this Kandy team bringing his international sevens flair in to the Sri Lankan rugby format. Tall and heftily built, his tactical breaks were very effective as he allowed Marcelle to score the fourth giving him an assist at the rear end (31-7).
Soon after Roshan Weeraratna sprinted almost 50 meters and had no option but to chip the ball forward as Ouma came to the rescue getting his finger on the ball before it headed into touch. Roshan Weeraratna converted (38-7).
Just before half time, it was Damith Dissanayaka who triggered the break from a Kandy ruck to pass the ball onto Richard Dharmapala to score under the posts for a try. It was an interesting sight to skipper Sean Wijesinghe taking the conversion; something which would have been on his bucket list before he hanged his boots. (45-7)
Half Time – Kandy SC 45 (T7 C5) – Police 07 (T1, C1)
With the first half deciding the winner of the Clifford cup title, word that would have gone around the Kandy dressing room was to whether any one wanted to score tries for themselves as that is exactly what they did. As Nigel Ratwatte opened the scoring in the second half, the Oscar Ouma brilliance continued his top form as he chipped in with two more tries to take Kandy score past the 50 point mark as Kandy were in commanding form at 55 points.
It was raining tries at the Nittawela stadium this evening with the replacements coming for the team, as veteran player and stalwart Saliya Kumara made his entrance on to the field, it was his time to score. Saliya Kumara scored two tries, both coming off the assists of Oscar Ouma and Koto Pongi as scores elevated to 65 points. The Policemen looked on as Kandy were running all over them with a scoreboard ticking an increasing rate. Kandy’s hooker Damith Dissanayaka wanting a try under his name for the season, got his motive satisfied when he scored through a 5 meter quick tap.
To summarize game in one try, it was the Sri Lankan fly half and sevens skipper Fazil Marija crossed over for the final try stepping in and out through the Police defenders showcasing his true potent as the Sri Lankan sevens skipper. The last two tries were converted by Saliya Kumara as Kandy Sports Club finished their season run scoring 77 points to take back the Clifford cup after three years.
It was emotional to see skipper Sean Wijesinghe in tears as the fans bombarded the stadium from all sides of the ground to carry their champions on their shoulders. Skipper Sean Wijesinghe will finally call it a day after an illustrious 13 year old career having worn the colors of Sri Lanka and Kandy sports club over the years.
After a lapse of three years, the rugby crown goes back to where it originally belongs; the hills of Kandy. Kandy Sports Club ends their season with a double crown taking both the league title and the Clifford cup which will stay very comfortably in the Kandy Sports Club trophy cabinet.
This marks the end of yet another successful Dialog rugby season. The 2015/2016 season will commence in mid November this year.
Full Time Scores – Kandy SC 77 (13T,6C) – Police 07 (1T,1C)
Tries for Kandy Scored by Marcel Groenwald (4), Oscar Ouma 3, Saliya Kumara 2, Fazil Marija, Richard Dharmapala, Damith Dissanayaka
Try for Police scored by Apisai Naqaliva
