The finals of the Clifford Cup ended brilliantly. Unless you were one of the outnumbered Havelocks fans or players. The stunning 27-22 comeback, after trailing by 16 points at half time, Navy underlined their supremacy as the best side in the league this year.
While several doubters may have wondered about Navy’s capability, they put all those doubts to rest with a scything second half performance that completely obliterated the Havelock pack’s efforts.
Of the three tries that were scored in the first half Havelocks only managed to cross the line once. That too off a rolling maul. The other two tries were scrum penalties which were then converted into penalty tries, very correctly by the referee. But for all their forward dominance, despit possessing some dangerous backline players, Havies just couldn’t turn pressure into points. The way they decimated the Navy scrum in the first half was a lesson in scrummaging. However, two scores and a bit was hardly enough to reward that sort of dominance. It was so bad in the first half that Navy were down to 13 at one stage with Yoshitha Rajapaksha and Podi Swarnatilleka sent to the bin for desperately trying to stop the Havelock eight.
The extravagant half time display by the Army seemed to have galvanised the Navy team though. Mothilal Jayathilaka is a splendid motivator, and he did most of the talking in the huddle. Havelocks on the other hand, came out thinking that they had won the game. They did not show the ruthlessness of the first half at the start of the second, and some quick penalties gave Navy the momentum they needed.
It was the changes that made the difference for Navy, showing what an important thing the bench is. Namal went off for Bilal Hassen at half time and Saliya Handapangoda came on on the half hour mark for Thisila Devinda. Kofatolu was stifled by the backpeddaling scrum, and it was only when Hassen moved to no. 8 and Soyuru Anthony came on that the Navy ship steadied. Hassen’s ability to transform bad ball into decent ball is unparalleled, and his distribution and go forward from the base allowed the reshuffled Navy midfield to make a menace of themselves.
In the absence of the Fijian flyers, Navy called on the Police Fijian Naqalevu and his Wellingtonian buddy to supplement midfield, keeping Tupuailai out of the match day 23. The two started creating havoc in the centres after the Havelocks began to visibly tire from their earlier efforts. There was no doubt that the Navy substitutes changed the game, and the Havies left their fresh legs for much later, by which time the momentum had well and truly shifted. Handapangoda hit a beautiful angle, after Lee Keegal had given the Navy team their first touch down, and in the desperate final stages of the game, it was Handapangoda’s well timed interception of a badly judged Dhabare to Sherriff pass that completely destroyed Havelocks.
With Paula Kaho tiring, the injection of Nissan Atui, who crossed over from CR didn’t have the expected effect, with the big no.8 dropping another average Dhabare pass with several players over outside him. Havelocks went from the sublime to the ridiculous, with their defence being entirely in dissaray with Navy running more and more ball at them.
Hassen’s impact was felt, and the big match player almost scored one of his trademark tries before he knocked on on the try line with the final phase of the game. Havelocks were left ruing what might have been, while Navy snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Their unwavering self belief, superior fitness and depth took them home in a game that will be remembered for a long time by a packed Race Course. Sherriff could only watch as Handapangoda sped away for the final nail in their coffin on a memorable day for the former Army man who scored two tries.
It was a fitting finale to the Club season.
