Upcountry Lions finished their Dialog Club Rugby League 2013/14 campaign with a morale boosting 30-17 win over CR & FC in the first game of the final week at Longden place.
Fourth place of the Dialog Club Rugby League standings were up for grabs for both teams as the home team was hoping for a better performance than their disappointing first leg at Nawalapitiya where CR & FC was thrashed by 45-12 by Upcountry Lions. SLRFU had brought down Norman Drake from Dubai to officiate the crucial fourth place battle.
Srinath Sooriyabandara kicked off the game at 4.10pm after a small dispute regarding the kick off time between the teams and the match officials. CR & FC was on the attack from the first move itself as they wanted to use their home advantage to the maximum effect.
Both teams started to use their kicking tactics to gain territory early on and the early line outs were dominated by Upcountry Lions as Saajid Shuhaib stole two CR & FC line outs to disrupt the early momentum from CR & FC.
First penalty of the game was awarded to CR & FC within their kicking range but Sri Lanka’s pioneer place kicker, Riza Mubarak could not bisect the posts. Soon after Riza’s penalty attempt, Upcountry Lions standoff Nigel Ratwatte got his first chance to put points on the board but his penalty kick went astray.
Upcountry Lions opened the scoring in the 15th minute when their speedy wing three quarter Niroshan Karunanayake touched down near the corner flag after Lions took a quick tap deep inside CR territory from a line offside penalty by CR & FC. Skipper Srinath Sooriyabandara missed the conversion. (CR 00 – Lions 05)
Upcountry Lions number 8 Joketani Raikabula was penalized for holding on to the ball in the 28th minute and Riza Mubarak made no mistake with his boot for the 45 meter long penalty attempt as CR & FC got their first points in the score board. (CR 03 – Lions 05)
Upcountry Lions extended their slim two point lead to five points in the 32nd minute when Upcountry Lions wing three quarter Shanaka Kumara fired across a 30 meter penalty after Rimzie Jamaldeen was caught holding on to the ball in a ruck situation. (CR 03 – Lions 08)
CR & FC managed to get another penalty in the 40th minute of the 1st half when Upcountry Lions flanker Sasanka Ariyaratne was sent to the sin bin but Riza Mubarak was unable to convert the penalty kick as referee Norman Drake blew the half time whistle.
Half Time : CR & FC 03 – Upcountry Lions 08
After the break, Riza Mubarak kicked off this close battle. Both teams were settling in for a grueling 2nd half but Upcountry Lions suffered another major setback as their reliable full back Rochana Hettiarachchi was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle and Referee Norman Drake continued his way of giving out Yellow cards when he sent Nipuna Devinda to the sin bin and CR & FC used it to their advantage when their strong driving rolling maul worked out perfectly once more in this season when Dushanth Lewke scored his first try for the evening. Riza Mubarak converted with ease to put the home team into the lead. (CR 10 – Lions 08)
Referee Norman Drake was calling his shots in pin point accuracy but he was stopping the game every few minutes making it a stop, start affair where running, fast rugby was possible on a almost perfect evening for Rugby. CR & FC got the game into their control in the 70th minute when the replacement CR & FC number 8 Pita Semeani scored off another strong ‘Reds’ driving maul. Riza Mubarak added the extra points. (CR 17 – Lions 08)
With less than 10 minutes to go, Upcountry Lions needed to score twice to win the game and their reliable foreign recruitment Peniasi Tokakace started their stunning come back when he touched down in the 73rd minute of the game after a series of attacking phrases deep inside CR 22’ meters. Shanaka Kumara missed an easy conversion. (CR 17 – Lions 13)
When the final whistle was only 5 minutes away, Nigel Ratwatte got his team into the lead once again when he scored a brilliant try after a scintillating break by their center three quarter Tevita Taufei. Shanaka Kumara converted the try. (CR 17 – Lions 20)
Sri Lanka’s sevens super star Srinath Sooriyabandara is renowned for his nippy footwork but he proved more versatile than just dancing and speed when in the 78th minute he successfully put over a 50 meter drop goal to take his team close to victory. (CR 17 – Lions 23)
Nigel Ratwatte scored his 2nd try for the game in the final move of the match when his punt kick in the middle of the ground was charged by a CR defender but the ball bounced back perfectly into Nigel Ratwatte’s hands as he sprinted away and scored under the post to put the final nail in the CR coffin. Shanaka Kumara converted the try and referee Norman Drake blew the final long whistle signaling a stunning Upcountry Lions comeback win.
Full Time : CR & FC 17 – Upcountry Lions 30
After the game, Upcountry Lions coach Imthi Marikar expressed his joy in words to ThePapare.com “ Our boys showed real character to win the game after being down and out. fantastic comeback. “
ThePapare.com Man of the Match – Nigel Ratwatte
