Kandy's Nigel Ratwatte adding his name to the try scorer's list
Kandy produced another masterclass of attacking rugby today as they demolished the Cops at Nittawela, running out 61-20 winners earlier this evening.
As expected, this was a one-sided affair with the champion club Kandy in control of proceedings from start to finish and they eventually outscored their hapless visitors by 9 tries to two.
The win consolidates Kandy’s position at the top of the Dialog Rugby League 2017/2018 standings remaining unbeaten yet again as expected piling up the 8th consecutive victory in the tournament. For Police however it is the total opposite as this was their 8th defeat on the trot and are rooted rock bottom in the points table.
Richard Dharmapala acted as the captain since Kandy had decided to rest some of their big names although they were nonetheless outstanding in the field today. Nigel Ratwatte replaced Fazil Marija at fly half and Thilina Wijesinghe returned to the full back position. Ratwatte was outstanding in his first start at the fly half position. He managed to control the game and went into contact when needed and also setup two tries and scored a double.
Kandy held a comfortable 28-06 lead at half-time thanks to 2 tries from Anurudda Wilwara and one each by Uchitha Jayasooriya and Nigel Ratwatte.
Sandesh Jayawickrama pinched the scoring early in the game drawing first blood. However from then on it was one way traffic at the hill capital stadium. Nigel Ratwatte received an excellent offload from his acting captain Richard before jogging over to the corner flag to score. Thilina Wijesinghe added the extras with ease. (Kandy 07-03 Police)
Uchitha Jayasooriya, who was in in place of the injured Damith Dissanayake, scored his try of the game dropping over after Kandy had rolled the maul inches before the try line. Thilina bisected the posts with ease. (Kandy 14-03 Police)
Anurudda Wilwara yielded his magic yet again, extending his lead of tries scored by another two tries, as he went over twice. Kandy ran the ball from inside their 22m line, almost everyone in the backline had a say in the try, an excellent set piece move switching in and out before Wili dived over. His second was a regulation run to the try line which he makes look easy. Thilina Wijesinghe, who had returned as the place kicker, placed both kicks neatly between the posts. (Kandy 28-03 Police)
Just before half time Sandesh yet again put through a penalty which was awarded for a high tackle. (Kandy 28-06 Police)
Half Time; Kandy 28 (4T 4C) – 06 (2P) Police
Nigel Ratwatte opened the flood gates yet again scoring first in the second half. He just had to dive over the line and under the posts from a ball received from the back of the scrum. He added the extras to his own try. (Kandy 35-06 Police)
Police then was awarded a penalty try by the referee as the tackle that bundled the Police player into touch was deemed too high by the referee. (Kandy 35-13 Police)
The next try came courtesy of Danushka Ranjan who sprinted his way over after receiving a lovely pass from Ratwatte. Ratwatte failed to add the extras, slipping it just wide of the posts. (Kandy 40-13 Police)
Richard Dharmapala then made 80m on his own running through the crowded Police midfield making it looks so easy. He made a fool of atleast 10 defenders before offloading it to the incoming Sooriyabandara to score his first try of the game. Wijesinghe who resumed kicking duties added the extras. (Kandy 47-13 Police)
Police then got their consolation try through Udara Suriyaperuma who picked and dropped over the line after inching ever so close to the whitewash after the lineout was won successfully. (Kandy 47-20 Police)
Kandy added another two tries via their speedsters Richard Dharmapala and Dhanush Dayan in the dying minutes of the game extending their tally of points to 61. Both tries were successfully converted by Wijesinghe. (Kandy 61-20 Police)
Kandy will travel down to Rathmalana next week for their fixture against Air Force. Kandy don’t have very pleasant memories there as Air Force beat them last time around in the previous season.
Full Time; Kandy 61 (9T 8C) – 20 (2T 2C 2P) Police
ThePapare.com Player of the match: Nigel Ratwatte (Kandy SC)
Points Breakdown
Kandy – Nigel Ratwatte 2T 1C, Anurudda Wilwara 2T, Richard Dharmapala 1T, Danushka Ranjan 1T, Danush Dayan 1T, Srinath Sooriyabandara 1T, Uchitha Jayasooriya 1T, Thilina Wijesinghe 7C
Police – Udara Suriyaperuma 1T, Sandesh Jayawickrama 1C, 2P
