Havelocks clinch dialog club rugby sevens title

The tournament’s most valuable player Mohamed Sheriff’s brace helped Havelock SC take home the 2014 dialog club rugby 7’s title while Air force ‘B’, Air force ‘A’ and Kandy ‘B’ bagged the Shield, Bowl and Plate titles respectively.

The day kicked off with the Bowl/Shield quarter finals. In the first Bowl/Shield quarter final Army ‘B’ beat a tough Navy Sea Horse outfit whilst CR & FC ‘B’ came out on the winning side against Peterson. Army ‘C’ easily dispatching a lacklustre Air force ‘B’ team. The final Bowl/Shield quarter final saw Air force ‘A’ come out winners against their own Air force ‘C’ team. The winners of the Bowl/Shield quarter finals went on to the Bowl Semi-Finals and the losers to the Shield Semi-Finals.

In The Cup/Plate quarter finals Havelock SC scored four tries past Kandy ‘B’ team that looked out of sorts. Kandy ‘A’ team looked in prime form when they easily demolished a helpless Navy Dreadnoughts team that could not manage to register a single point. Army ‘A’ battled hard against CH & FC although Army ‘A’ came out on the losing side. While CR & FC ‘A’ kept Police SC scoreless to secure their passage to the next round. The winner of the Cup/Plate quarter finals moved on to the Cup Semi-Finals and the losers proceeded to the Plate Semi-Finals.

The Shield Semi-Finals saw Navy Sea Horse score four tries to end Peterson’s campaign. In the second Semi-Final Air force ‘B’ easily beat Air force ‘C’ to set up a Shield Final show down with Navy Sea Horse.

In the Bowl Semi-Final Army ‘B’ beat a sloppy CR & FC ‘B’ that looked disorganized from the beginning. Air force ‘A’ beat Army ‘C’ handsomely to book their place in the Bowl Final alongside Army ‘B’.

Kandy ‘B’ booked their Plate final alongside Army ‘A’ when Kandy ‘B’ beat Navy Dreadnoughts comprehensively by 21 points. Army ‘A’ ended Police SC’s hopes of winning the Shield when Army ‘A’ beat Police SC in a tight contest.

The first Cup Semi-Final saw Havelock SC take on a star studded Kandy ‘A’ team. In the early stages of the game Niroshan Fernando was shown a yellow card for tackling a player without the ball, Richard Dharmapala exploited the one man advantage twice but failed to register any points. In a tight game from the start no team could have made the telling break until Shehan Pathirana made a dazzling break down the touchline, in an effort to stop him Nigel Ratwatte made a scintillating tackle but it was all in vain as Shehan Pathirana offloaded brilliantly to Mohamed Sheriff to score under the post to end the first half in the lead. The try scorer Mohamed Sheriff set up his team mate Mithun Hapugoda in the second half. With time running out Kandy ‘A’ scored a try in the dying moments of the game but it was too little to late as Havelock SC qualified for the Cup Final.

The second Cup Semi-Final saw CR & FC ‘A’ take on CH & FC. CR & FC ‘A’ started brightly when Mekalanka Pramoda scored early. But CH & FC hit straight back to cut the deficit to 2 points. CH & FC gain the lead for the first time in the game when they scored in the corner. Dilip Selvam scored his team’s third try to secure a superb comeback

Air force ‘B’ absolutely thumped Navy Sea Horse team to claim the Shield title. While Air force ‘A’ broke the hearts of Army ‘A’ to win the Bowl title and the boys from Kandy ‘B’ team won the Plate title in a close encounter with Army ‘A’. In the third place game Kandy ‘A’ swept aside a very sloppy CR & FC team. Although CR & FC started the game with an early try, Lavanga Perera scored 4 tries as Kandy ‘A’ stormed back into the lead and ended the game in style scoring 8 tries.

In the all-important Cup final Havelock SC dominated from the beginning when Chamara Dabare scored straight from the kick off. Responding to the early try CH & FC’s Sashan Mohamed scored a scintillating try of his own, when he took a quick tap stepped off the right and then off the left to score under the post to level things up. Havelock SC’s captain Sadun Herath restored parity when he scored just second after the hooter. Mohamed Sheriff’s brace in the second half put the game beyond the reach of CH & FC. Even though Rishan Pieris scored for CH & FC, Mithun Hapogoda sealed the deal for Havelock SC when he scored to end the game and hand Havelock SC the title.

Highest try scorer : Lavanga Perera

Most Valuable Player of the tournament (MVP) : Mohamed Sheriff