Carlton Super 7’s Second Leg (Beliatte) Day 1

The second leg of local segment started today at the D.A. Rajapaksa Stadium in Beliatte. North Central Typhoons who won the first leg in Kurunegala who started as favorites beating Uva Vipers 28 – 14 however, lost their consecutive winning run of 9 matches to the Central Kings 19 – 00. 

Central Kings played much better 7’s from the pool A comparing to their last outing in Kurunegala. Nigel Ratwatte, Richard Dharmapala and Saliya Handapangoda once again carried their brilliant form from the first leg. They drew against the Western Warriors 19 -19 beat the North Central Typhoons and quite surprisingly lost to Uva Vipers 14 – 19 before their last game of the day against Sabaragamuwa Stallions winning it easily 26 – 05.  

Warriors on the other hand had a good start with a draw but they lost to Uva Vipers and North Central Typhoons. However manage to win against the Stallions in a close match 26 – 24 despite their skipper Yoshitha Rajapaksa cut open his cheek in bad knock which had to be stitched. 

Typhoons finished the day strong after the shock defeat against Kings. Anurudda Wilwara once again was priceless for the North Central team as he ended up as the leading try scorer in day one, with 6 to his name. It will be a surprise if he did not fly to Glasgow in fortnight’s time unless the team is registered early. 

Uva Vipers are the most improved team comparing to the first leg as they lost all four games in the first round in Kurunegala. Shehan Pathirana lead the team remarkably well whilst Ashan De Costa speeding to the try line in style and Sharo Fernando showing his power in quick turnovers and skillful 7’s free flow running style of rugby. Chula Susantha’s Sabaragamuwa Stallions yet again, could not make use of their talent as they lost all their matches and ended last in pool A.

In Pool B  Marija’s men were on song once again as they outplayed   Southern Sharks, Eastern Eagles, North Western Blacks and Jaffna Challengers comfortably. Northern Gladiators are unbeaten they have lost just one game in last 10 games including the first leg. Danushka Ranjan who did not play in the first leg due to injury was found fit and aggressive as he scored 6 tries in 3 matches. 

Srinath Sooriyabandara led the Southern Sharks in to the second spot on the table much better performance by the Sharks as they lost only to the Gladiators but won the rest of the three games. North Western Blacks was a bit shaky despite a fabulous performance in the first leg but they ended up third. Lee Keegal, Lavanga Perera and Sheriff Mohamed still in good shape for the Blacks and they can still get through to the semifinals tomorrow. 

Saliya Kumara, Prasad Wijesinghe and Thilina Wijesinghe gave their hearts out for the Jaffna Challengers however, only manage to beat the Sharks 17 – 12 in very intense game. Eastern Eagles again had a poor outing despite Buwanaka Udangamuwa, Mohamed Absal and Chamara Dabare playing a responsible game.  

The leading try scorers in day 1 as below