Police Sports club cemented their second place after a convincing victory against a struggling CH & FC outfit in their opening game in the second round of the 2019/20 Dialog Rugby League worked off at Racecourse stadium. After leading 24 points to 10 at half time, Cops went on to clinch the game with a bonus point as the scores read 32 – 17 after the final whistle.
Police kicked off the game but CH dominated possession in the early exchanges as CH went all out attacking and Hashan Maduranaga made a log pass to Nishon Perera which was expertly intercepted by Police scrum-half Suranga Kasun, who then sprinted away to score the opening try for the cops while Janith Chandimal slotted in the easy conversion. (CH 00 – 07 POLICE)
CH after giving away an easy try had to reply soon which they did when Avishka Lee made an excellent chip kick which Nishon Perera chased down and collected. A few phases later after the try Skipper Rohitha Rajapaksa managed to burst through the Police defense as he made a silky offload to Shehan Dias as he cantered across the whitewash for the gymkhana club. Surprisingly Samuel Maduwantha couldn’t convert both the tries. (CH 10 – 07 POLICE)
Dialog Rugby League – 2nd Round FIXTURES OUT!
CH defense in the breakdown leaked few penalties in quick succession as the Police skipper Udara Suriyapperuma opted for points as Janith Chandimal obliged with a perfect kick through the uprights to bring the game to deadlock. (CH 10 – 10 POLICE)
Police backs made a huge statement in this game as they opted to run from their half as Janith Chandimal opened space for the speedster Sachith Silva as he went past three defenders and managed to speed past Hashan Maduranaga to dot the ball down under the post as Chandimal easily added the extras. (CH 10 – 17 POLICE)
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Police continued to be aggressive as they scored in the dying embers of the first half as the Fijian Eroni, Vucargo who replaced Emosi Vunivosa, went through the CH defense to touch down under the sticks as Chandimal yet again landed the conversion.
Half Time – CH & FC 10 (2T) – POLICE SC 24 (3T,3C,1P)
Amid a frustrating first-half spectacle CH dominated territory and possession as they played patiently in the first quarter of the second half but couldn’t convert opportunities to points until Avishka Lee opted for a quick tap in the five-meter and a flat pass to the big prop forward Sathya Ranathunga was good enough for the gymkhana club as he bulldozed his way over to keep the game alive as Maduwantha slotted over the conversion. (CH 17 – 24 POLICE)
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Police had it at an error-ridden 20 minutes in the second half but they were gifted three points when CH gave away an unwanted penalty being off-side. Chandimal landed another penalty from 40 meters out increase the cops lead to ten points. (CH 17 – 27 POLICE)
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CH then lost Avishka Lee to the sin-bin for tackling a play in the air and Police immediately took advantage of their numerical superiority when Muammar Deen powered over for the bonus point try after a patient build-up but Chandimal this time missed the conversion as the ball curled away from the left upright. (CH 17 – 32 POLICE)
CH were denied further tries by desperate defense by Police as they opened the second round with a convincing victory.
Full Time – CH & FC 17 (3T,1C) – POLICE SC 32 (4T,3C,2P)
Dialog Viu Player of the Match – Janith Chandimal (POLICE SC)
Match Referee – Hasantha Weranga
Breakdown
CH & FC: Tries from Nishon Perera, Shehan Dias, Sathya Ranathunga and conversion by Samuel Maduwantha
POLICE SC: Tries from Sachith Silva, Suranga Kasun, Eroni Vucargo, Muammar Deen, conversions (3) and penalties (2) by Janith Chandimal
Cautions & Send offs:
CH & FC: Avishka Lee (Yellow Card)
