The 5th-week matches of the Nippon Paint Rugby League 2022/2023 were worked off during the weekend. With Kandy SC leading the table with an unbeaten record, Havelock SC and CR&FC are keeping up with the defending champions in hope of bringing back to trophy to Colombo.
Navy SC v Army SC
Full Time: 41 – 30
Navy SC registered a bonus point win over Army SC at Welisara on Friday. It was a high-scoring game where players crossed over the whitewash 10 times over the 80 minutes. Sailors needed this win badly to reignite their chances of reaching the top 4. The bonus point win here keeps their hopes alive going into the last two weeks. For the hosts, Harsha Maduranga scored a hat trick of tries, while Thannuja Malimbada scored two, with one more coming from Lahiru Herath. For the soldiers, it was Ashan Bandara who scored two, while Sudaraka Dikkumbura and Vinod Kumar scored a try each.
Havelocks SC v CH&FC
Full Time: 31 – 17
The crunch game of the weekend ended up in a thrashing from the Park Club. The Havies secured their second back-to-back bonus point win to cut down the deficit between table toppers and defending champions Kandy SC. The game was played at the Race Course Grounds, and the first half ended at 7-7. The second half belonged to the visitors, who scored tries through Niwanka Prasada, Shehan Dias, Randitha Warnapura, and Raveen Fernando. The Gymkhana Club only managed to earn a penalty try and drop goal in the second stanza, despite having a numerical advantage for over 15 minutes.
Kandy SC v Police SC
Full Time: 22 – 12
Resurgent Police SC denied a bonus point win for the defending champions Kandy SC at the Police Park on Saturday. The first half saw Kandy crossing the whitewash twice through Tharinda Ratwatte and Srinath Sooriyabandara, while Rasith Silva crossed over for Police. The second half started off with an early penalty try for Police, which put them on level terms with Kandy. The game was drifting slowly during the middle period before Ratwatte scored a penalty and a converted try in the final 15 minutes to seal the win for Kandy.
CR&FC v Air Force SC
Full Time: 29 – 24
This was by far the most thrilling game of the 5th week of the League. Air Force have already shown they are a force to reckon with, and they almost pulled off an upset against the boys from Longdon Place. The game was played at Ratmalana, and it was the visitors who dominated the first half with two tries from Gemunu Chethiya and another from Lasindu Karunathilake. For the hosts, Nuwan Perera scored a converted try and a penalty in the first half.
The second half started off with early tries from Thenuka Nanayakkara and Murshid Zubair for CR. Little did CR know that this was it for them in the half as Air Force came storming back to the game. The hosts scored two converted tries before the 65th minute through Dilan Fernando and Kavisha Ruchirantha. Unfortunately, they failed to penetrate the CR defense after that as the Red held on to a close win.
6th-week Fixtures
21st January
- CH&FC v Kandy SC at Race Course Grounds
- Havelock SC v Police SC at Havelock Park
22nd January
- CR&FC v Navy SC at Longdon Place
- Army SC v Air Force SC at TBC
