Defending Champions CR & FC hosted Army SC in a week 04 clash of the Mastercard Inter-Club A-Division Rugby League 2024/25 today at Longdon Place. After an evenly contested first half, the hosts ran away with the game producing a dominant second half show. The final scoreline of the game was CR & FC 38 – 12 Army SC.
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Both the teams looked to attack from the word go producing some commanding runs but a floated pass from Army while working the line was intercepted by the home skipper Gemunu Chethiya and he went all the way comfortably for the first try of the game. Zubair Doray converted a straightforward try easily to add the extra points (CR 07 – 00 ASC)
A thunderous run from Lasindu Karunathilake through the center of Army defense after a successful line-out created the opening for Manilka Ruberu who received the pass and went over quite easily. Doray added the extra points to increase the lead for the hosts (CR 14 – 00 ASC)
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Army SC kept hitting continuously and finally found the whitewash as the forwards were rewarded for their hard work when Buddi Sreemantha touched down. The conversion however didn’t go through for the soldiers (CR 14 – 05 ASC)
Half Time :- CR & FC 14 (2T 2C) – 05 (1T) Army SC
CR & FC started off the 2nd half with a bang as Adeesha Weeratunga scored a try from the left corner of the field after the defending champions worked the ball from right to left and gained a lot of yardage. The conversion however didn’t go over as the lead stayed at 14 (CR 19 – 05 ASC)
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The hosts scored their second try inside the first 10 minutes of the second half when former skipper Suhiru Anthony found the whitewash on the right corner of the field. The attempt to add the two extra points went wayward once again from Doray (CR 24 – 05 ASC)
Thenuka Nanayakkara produced a scintillating run after selling a show and go and gave the pass out to Naveen Marasinghe as he touched it down easily by fending off the final defender. Doray kicked through his 3rd successful conversion to increase the lead for the home team (CR 31 – 05 ASC)
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Naveen Marasinghe showcased his pure physicality after receiving the ball close to the whitewash as he fended off one tackler and carried the second one alongside him to reach over and score the 6th try of the game. Doray added two more points as the lead grew for the boys in red (CR 38 – 05 ASC)
Army SC did find the try line once more just before the end to reduce the deficit as Dhanushka Thalwatta went over using a 5m penalty and took the quick tap. Conversion didn’t go over once again as the bad day in the office continued for the Army SC kicker (CR 38 – 10 ASC)
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Army SC had a good first half but the defending champions were too good during the early exchanges of the 2nd half as it’s fair to say they sealed the deal during that phase of the game scoring three quick tries. The young halfback for the boys from Longdon Place Rushen Bandaranayake was adjudged as ThePapare Player of the Match for his workhouse like effort to call the shots and get the job done during important phases of the game.
Full Time :- CR & FC 38 (6T 4C) defeated Army SC 10 (2T)
ThePapare Player of the Match : Rushen Bandaranayake (CR)
Points Breakdown
CR & FC :- Naveen Marasinghe 10 Points (2T), Zubair Doray 8 Points (4C), Suhiru Anthony 5 Points (1T), Adeesha Weerathunga 5 Points (1T), Gemunu Chethiya 5 Points (1T), Manilka Ruberu 5 Points (1T)
Army SC :– Buddi Sreemantha 5 Points (1T), Dhanushka Thalwatta 5 Points (1T)
