Havelock SC hosted the defending champions CR & FC in a week 08 clash of the Mastercard Club Rugby League 2024/25 as the hosts pulled off a masterpiece performance to end the unbeaten run of the visitors. The final scoreline of this try fest was 53-42.
Havies made early inroads into the CR 22m territory and Sandesh Jayawickrama decided to pull out the cross kick which Chethana Rajaratne managed to touchdown to hand the home team a first try inside 3 minutes. Around a minute later, Zubair Doray who collected a box kick from Mohommad Rifan tried to counter attack but a lobbed up pass from him was intercepted by Jayathu Rajaratne who dashed through comfortably for his 10th try of the season. In the 12th minute Havies once again found themselves inside the opposition 22m territory and some slick passing from right to left gave enough room for the senior Rajaratne to score his 2nd try of the day. Samuel Maduwantha converted both the first two tries as their lead was almost 20 even before the 15th minute mark (HSC 19 – 00 CRFC)
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Around 5 minutes later Havelock SC struck once again as C. Rajaratne registered a hat trick of tries to his name inside 25 minutes of the game. Jayawickrama was once again instrumental with his kicking as a well spotted dink was collected by C. Rajaratne before going all the way. At the 25th minute Zubair Doray slotted through a penalty to open their account but the deficit was still over 20 for the visitors. CR tried hard to mount a comeback but their nightmare with the Rajaratne brothers continued when J. Rajaratne scored his 2nd try as the CR & FC defence was found wanting once again. Going into the last quarter of the first half, the visitors found some momentum thanks to a well measured move from Viduna Amaneth who shifted directions and decided to use the short side which opened up the left hand side of the field for Adeesha Weerathunga (HSC 31 – 08 CRFC)
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CR found the whitewash again just before lemons as they used their strong suit rolling maul to gain some good meters and score a try through Thineth Gamage. This was the last try of the first half as an eventful period of 40 minutes where the home team dominated came to an end
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Half-Time : Havelock SC 31 – 13 CR & FC
A couple of minutes into the second half J. Rajaratne equaled his brother with another try as he used the right hand side of the field to perfection. But CR & FC managed to hit back straight away from the restart kick as Omalka Gunaratne made a strong bulldozing run through and Thenuka Nanayakkara scored the 3rd try of the game for the red shirts. The visitors scored back to back tries for the first time in the game as Randy Silva found the whitewash and both these tries were converted by Doray to make the match competitive once again (HSC 38 – 27 CR)
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A brain freeze moment from Rinesh Silva off the restart kick gave Havies the chance to attack once again and they pounced on it as J. Rajaratne scored another try. The lead increased further for the hosts when Maduwantha kicked through a penalty. But to make things interesting once again, Gemunu Chethiya touched down on the right corner of the field. However the big finishing maneuver for Havies arrived through C. Rajaratne as Stephen Sivaraj pulled out a fantastic long pass and the elder Rajaratne brother went over for his 4th try. Although CR & FC skipper Chethiya and Chemod Muthunayake scored a couple of tries in the remaining minutes, they had too much work to do and surrendered their unbeaten streak (HSC 53 – 42 CR)
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With this result, the league opened up completely as it is no longer a two horse race but a three way dance. Havies who came so close but fell short of beating Kandy SC will take a lot of heart out of this win and will be rooting for CR & FC to beat Kandy SC next weekend. For the Red Shirts it’s about trying to get their act right against the unbeaten Kandy outfit as it is a must win for them. They need to forget this bashing at the hands of Havelock SC as soon as possible.
Full-Time : Havelock SC 53 (8T 5C 1P) defeated CR & FC 42 (7T 2C 1P)
Points Breakdown
Havelock SC : Jayathu Rajaratne 20 Points (4T) Chethana Rajaratne 20 Points (4T) Samuel Maduwantha 12 Points (5C 1P)
CR & FC : Gemunu Chethiya 10 Points (2T) Zubair Doray 7 Points (2C 1P) Thineth Gamage 5 Points (1T) Adeesha Weerathunga 5 Points (1T) Chemod Muthunayake 5 Points (1T) Thenuka Nanayakkara 5 Points (1T) Randy Silva 5 Points (1T)
