A try from Chamara Dabare and a penalty kick from Dulaj Perera in the second half ensured that Havelock Sports Club managed to get a bonus point victory against the giant killers Army Sports Club in their 5th week fixture of the Dialog A Division Rugby League game played at Police Park this evening. The score stood as 29 (4T, 3C, 1P) points to 19 (3T, 2C).
The game kicked off early due to the adverse weather conditions. It was overcast but there was no rain when Gayan Salinda kicked off the game. In the early exchanges of the game both teams dished out fast open rugby as Army was looking for another upset as they did last week against CR & FC.
Match Highlights – Army SC vs Havelock SC DRL 2017/18 #20
Match Highlights from the Army SC vs Havelock SC game played on Saturday 3rd December 2017 at Police Park.
Army opened the scoring through their flanker Sanjaya Rathnayake as their no 08 Dhanuka Wijethilka gained a few meters with his powerful run and the prop Sugath Nanayakkara picked the ball from his team mate and made a sparkling breakthrough the Havies defence. He had the presence of mind to make a quick offload to Rathnayake to finish the move. Salinda made no mistake with his conversion. (Army 07 – 00 Havelocks)
Havelocks were under pressure straight away as the soldiers continued to put up a big fight as they kept on attacking at the Havies defence. Havelocks defended the attacking storm from the soldiers and finally got their act together when Hirantha Perera opened the scoring as he found space in the Army defence as he powered himself over Army tackler and found the white wash. Dulaj Perera was entrusted with kicking duties as Rizah Mubarak did not feature in this game. Perera didn’t disappoint his team as he bisected the uprights to equal the score. (Army 07 – 07 Havelocks)
Army didn’t hold back as they kept on attacking as Salinda found a gap in the Havies defence and opened up a scoring opportunity for the soldiers as Havies were found napping in their defence. Salinda made more than 25 meters before the scrum half Mohamed Rizvi came to support Salinda and picked the ball from him and went over to score the second try for Army. Salinda added the extras. (Army 14 – 07 Havelocks)
Havelock lost their skipper for ten minutes as he was penalized for infringement in a ruck. The Park club managed to score two back-to-back tries before half time as silky moves and pure pace allowed Ramesh Fernando to score under the post while Nishon Perera stepped up to his expectations when he overpowered the Army defender to score in the corner. Dulaj Perera converted both tries as Havies changed the momentum of the game. (Army 14 – 21 Havelocks)
HALF TIME – Army 14 (2T, 2C) – 21 (3T, 3C) Havelocks
Heavens opened up in the second half as the fast pace game changed into a muddy and slow affair. Army struggled to cope with muddy conditions and it was a surprise as they played the conditions pretty well last week. Havies dominated possession and territory in the second half but Army surged to reduce the gap when the forwards constructed attack that was played for more than 15 phases of pick and drives and finally Sampath Kumara went over the line for the soldiers. Salinda had the opportunity to level the score but the kick wasn’t successful. (Army 19 – 21 Havelocks)
Havies hit back straight away to increase the lead when they received a penalty in front of the sticks and skipper Melder had no hesitation in pointing towards the sticks as Dulaj Perera kicked the penalty with ease. (Army 19 – 24 Havelocks)
Army was down to fourteen when the prop Sugath Nanayakkara was sent to the bin and Havies dominated proceeding till the end to play as Chamara Dabare sealed the game as the Havies line spread the ball to the corner after continuous phases of pick and go moves from the forwards. Perera missed the conversion this time from a hard angle and heavy winds taking the ball away from the sticks. (Army 19 – 29 Havelocks)
In the dying stages of the game, Army tried to score but Havies defence was successful in defending although Sithum Pieris was sent to sin bin just before the full time whistle as Havies held on to their lead and gained a valuable bonus point victory.
HALF TIME – Army 19 (3T, 2C) – 29 (4T, 3C, 1P) Havelocks
- Match Referee – Rohan Fernando
- ThePapare.com Player of the match – Ramesh Fernando (Havelocks SC)
ThePapare.com Player of the match Ramesh Fernando expressed his thoughts about the game “Army gave good fight to us in this game especially during the first half we played as a team and we believed that we would get the victory and we got the win and looking forward to continue this winning momentum”
The Score Breakdown
Army SC 19 (14) 3T, 2C
Tries: Sanjaya Rathnayake, Mohamed Rizvi & Sampath Kumara
Conversions: Gayan Salinda (2)
Bookings (yellow cards): Sugath NanayakkaraHavelock SC 29 (21) 4T, 3C, 1P
Tries: Hirantha Perera, Ramesh Fernando, Nishon Perera & Chamara Dabare
Conversions: Dulaj Perera (3)
Penalties: Dulaj Perera
Bookings (yellow cards): Jason Melder & Sithum Peiris
