A determined and young CH & FC outfit missed out on a golden opportunity to topple the high-riding Army SC when the latter won their Dialog Rugby League week 3 fixture by 17-15 points on a rainy Sunday evening at Royal Sports Complex.
CH & FC have decided to play their home matches at Royal Sports Complex with ground renovations taking place with the club cricket season coming up. Both teams took the field with two impressive wins in the previous week. Army winger Thisila Karunathilake kicked-off the game on a gloomy and rainy evening in Colombo.
CH & FC had the possession and territory in the early minutes but against the run-of play, Army center Ramuwai Sanivalati intercepted a CH pass and dashed 80 meters to score under the posts in the 3rd minute of the match. The flying Fijian was unstoppable as he had too much gas. Full back Prince Chamara added the extra points with ease. (Army 07 – CH & FC 00)
CH & FC second five-eighth Rimzie Jamaldeen playing in his familiar College ground, slotted over a 28-meter penalty kick in the 6th minute after the Soldiers’ line was penalized for offside play. (Army 07 – CH & FC 03)
After 22 minutes of physical rugby, CH & FC reduced the deficit to only a point when Rimzie Jamaldeen successfully kicked an easy 25-meter penalty after Army was caught offside.
(Army 07 – CH & FC 06)
Army SC lineouts were not up to their usual standards and their key jumper, Randhika Alwis gave a crucial penalty in the 27th minute and Rimzie kicked his team to the lead for the first time of the match from a well-calculated 40-meter kick. (Army 07 – CH & FC 09)
With only 32 minutes on the game clock, CH & FC were deprived of a certain try by touch-referee Priyantha Fernando as he canceled the try by winger Eranda Ranaweera after the speedster collected a ball which Thisila Devinda tapped into the playing field which was going out of play. All spectators were bemused by the decision which was clearly a try in all eyes.
Army regained their lead in the dying moments of the 1st half through the reliable boot of Prince Chamara as the 19-year old full back kicked-in a 35-meter penalty. Army received the penalty advantage when the CH foreign center Rusi Vukula gave a dangerous tackle to his opposite number, Bhanuka Nanayakkara.
Half Time: Army 10 (1T,1C,1P) – CH & FC 09 (3P)
After the 10-minute break, Rimzie Jamaldeen restarted the proceedings. As the rain started to come down heavily, both teams struggled with the wet ball and the intensity of play was lost slowing down the expected action-packed 2nd half. CH forwards played with lot of heart as they continued to attack the Army defense line but the visitors held strongly. 
Army extended their lead through their play maker Ramuwai Sanivalati who once again collected a loose ball and sprinted his way to the try line in the 50th minute of the match to score his 2nd try of the match. Prince Chamara made no mistakes with the conversion.
(Army 17 – CH & FC 09)
The hosts needed some inspiration and finishes to score tries and win the game for them. Both teams employed the tactic of kicking for territory in soggy conditions. CH & FC knew breaking the Army defense was tough and they collected points through Jamaldeen’s boot and in the 57th minute of the match, he kicked his 4th penalty kick to reduce the deficit to touching distance. (Army 17 – CH & FC 12)
Rimzie Jamaldeen continued to tick over points for his team as he fired across another 30-meter penalty in the 61st minute after the Army defense line was infringed for off-side play. (Army 17 – CH & FC 15)
Last week’s Army hero, Pio Tuwai was completely shut down by the spirited CH loose forwards, specially the Captain – Radeesha Senevirathne who was exceptional in his defense but what lacked for CH was attacking strategies to sneak through the Army defense.
CH & FC got a golden opportunity to hit the lead in the final 10 minutes of the match after the Soldiers’ gave away another penalty with one of their arriving players for a breakdown not supporting his own body weight, but Jamaldeen failed to bisect the posts from a difficult angle.
As the game was hotly contested in the final few minutes amidst rain, both teams made unforced errors which prevented neither crossing the try line. Rimzie was the CH & FC hero throughout the match but in the end he failed to convert a penalty kick into points after an unnecessary obstruction act gave CH & FC a 45-meter penalty which did not have enough distance.
Army survived the CH scare as referee blew the final whistle and both teams will be hoping to fine tune many key areas in their next games into the league.
Full Time: Army SC 17 (2T,2C,1P) – CH & FC 15 (3P)
ThePapare Player of the Match – Ramuwai Sanivalati (Army center three-quarter)
Referee – Aruna Rankothge
Quote: ” The boy’s played their hearts out and the defense was rock solid today. If not for the 2 tries which we gifted to Army and some crucial referee decisions which went against us including the disallowed try, the result would have been in our favour” – CH&FC Coach, Bilal Yusuf
