Navy SC hosted CH & FC in a Week 3 clash of the Nippon Paint Rugby League 2023/24 at the Navy Rugby Grounds in Welisara. The visitors, who had the clear upperhand from the word go, managed to walk out with a comfortable win against the struggling home team. The final scoreline of the game was 34-14.
CH & FC drew first blood when their hooker Pulasthi Dasanayaka went over the line after a successful rolling maul from the 5m line. The foundation to the try was laid after Navy conceded a penalty for not rolling away, and Hirusha Nethmina’s kick took them towards the 5m line. (CH 05 – 00 NSC)
A few minutes later, Janindu Dilshan made a break and managed to almost go all the way, but a good tackle stopped him in his tracks. However, the Referee spotted an infringement and awarded a penalty to CH once again, where the visitors went for the territorial kick and tried to repeat a try scoring rolling maul. The Navy forwards managed to stop the maul this time, but a couple of phases later, Nirosh Perera acted as the first receiver from the ruck and powered his way through the Navy line of defence. Nethmina converted the try to extend their lead further. (CH 12 – 00 NSC)
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Trailing by 12 points, the Navy lads needed something special, and the young scrum half Imanka Ishara laid the base exactly for that when he faked a pass to the openside but then passed it to the blindside where Chanaka Jayalath found space and entered the 22m territory. However, Janindu Dilshan was up to the task and made a try saving tackle into touch, but the lineout 22m was unfortunately fumbled big time from inside their own by CH, and to make matters worse they conceded a penalty. The hosts then went for the kick into touch and the lineout to deliver some of their own medicine to CH, and Stephan Gregory, the big man for Navy, found the whitewash. Isuru Kongahawaththa managed to kick through a tough kick from the left corner of the field to cut the deficit down to 5 points. (CH 12 – 07 NSC)
However, Navy SC was unable to continue the momentum after that first try as, although they prevented CH from hitting back with a try, the Goal Line dropout went straight into touch and CH went for the scrum from the 5m line without any hesitation. Janith Laksara had very little to do as a good scrum opened the doors for him to just go over the line underneath the posts. Nethmina converted the try to restore their lead back to 12 points. (CH 19 – 07 NSC)
Just before halftime, CH & FC received a penalty from a scrum infringement by Navy and Nethmina kicked it through to increase the lead up to 15 at Halftime. (CH 22 – 07 NSC)
Halftime : CH & FC 22 – 07 Navy SC
The first 15 minutes of the game went by without any scoring from either of the sides, but that was changed when CH went over for the bonus try via Prasath Madushanka. Harsha Maduranga paved the way for this try as he inserted a lot of pressure on his opposition number, and that led to a pass out of their own try line. CH went for the scrum from the 5m line and Madushanka went over. Nethmina converted to increase his team’s tally. (CH 29 – 07 NSC)
CH & FC conceded a yellow card, giving Navy SC the number’s advantage, and the hosts finally found something to celebrate when the Flanker Denuwan Wickramarachchi spotted a gap right in front of him from the ruck, and he just collected the ball and ran straight towards the last defender available for CH and executed a lovely step to the right to evade him, and went all the way for the second try of the game for Navy. Kongahawaththa converted the try successfully with another good kick. (CH 29 – 14 NSC)
Just before the final whistle, CH & FC found the try line for the fifth time as Madushanka scored his second try, which was almost an action replay of the first try the visitors scored. They received a penalty, went for the kick, and then executed a lovely rolling maul over the try line. Maliksha Perera missed the conversion, but it really didn’t matter for CH & FC as the referee blew the final whistle, confirming a comfortable bonus point victory. (CH 34 – 14 NSC)
With this win, CH & FC continue their momentum, but for Navy SC the future looks ominous in the league unless they turn things around quickly. Harsha Maduranga, the scrum half of CH & FC, was adjudged Black Knight Player of the Match for his brilliant piece of work in both attacking and defending. He was always there whenever CH mounted an attacking phase of play and called the shots brilliantly from the very first minute till the end.
Full Time : CH & FC 34 (5T 3C 1P) beat Navy SC 14 (2T 2C)
Black Knight Player of the Match : Harsha Maduranga (CH & FC)
Points Breakdown
CH & FC : Hirusha Nethmina 3C 1P, Prasath Madushanka 2T, Nirosh Perera 1T, Janith Laksara 1T, Pulasthi Dasanayaka
Navy SC : Isuru Kongahawaththa 2C, Denuwan Wickramarachchi 1T, Stephan Gregory 1T
