A last minute try deprived Kandy Sports Club of a remarkable win in the Asia Western Club Rugby Championships opener against Olymp RFC earlier today.
It was an unfortunate twist of events as the Kazak club Olymp RFC scored three back-to-back tries when the islanders were in a commanding stage in the game to bring the encounter to an even stance. Kandy Sports Club’s fitness levels and defense were put to test in the dying stages of the game and they ended up failing.
Starting off their international run in style, the right wing scored on the farther right off a set piece, to draw first blood for Kandy in the tournament. It was a difficult conversion for young Arshard Jamaldeen e who was taking the kicking duties for the day as the 44m conversion went rightward (5-0). With ten minutes gone, it was the Kazak’s who earned themselves the lead as their fly half kicked two successful penalties (5-6). They followed up their kicking success with a try on the left that went unconverted (5-11)
The hill country club fought back and got themselves into a commanding position after they scored successfully on two occasions with their centers Koto Pongi and Oscar Ouma doing the hard work on the line to rake the scores up by 14 points (19-11). Thilina Wijesinghe continued to marvel the audience with his boots as this time he kicked a rare 45 meter penalty successfully to add another three points to the scoreboard (22-11).
Minutes before the half time whistle crisis hit Kandy when Buweneka Udangamuwa was sent to the naughty chair at a crucial passage of play allowing Olymp to score, taking advantage of the missing man. As the fly half converted, they had cut the deficit to just 4 points going into half time (22-18).
Kandy Sports Club playing without their key player in the third row was fortunate enough to get themselves another penalty within kickable distance. Jamaldeen who was having a fine day with his kicking boots made no mistake (25-18).
With Kandy coming back to full strength, it was all going Kandy’s way once again as the Lankans scored another beautiful converted try and later added another three with a long range penalty kick off the boots of Thilina Wijesinghe (35-18).
Kandy seemed to give away the game that they fought so hard for in the final ten minutes as failures in the defense allowed the Kazakhstan club to score three tries before the final whistle to level the scores at 35-35.
Kandy tried their level best to stage a recovery from the restart but with less than two minutes to go on the clock, a comeback seemed impossible and the game was drawn 35-35.
Kandy having dominated almost 60 minutes of play, failed to hold on to the crucial final ten minutes which meant that they had to settle for a draw. Having held territory and possession all throughout the game, Kandy failed to deliver when it mattered the most.
Final Score 35- 35
Kandy Sports Club will definitely need to look into their defensive lines and address the problems immediately as they will be facing a tougher opponent in the Abu Dhabi Saracens on Tuesday for their second match. Overseas players Koto Pongi and Oscar Ouma were the key architects in Kandy’s score sheet while Thilina Wijesinghe & Jamldeen were spot on today with his kicks.
Kandy will play Abu Dhabi Saracens on 15th Tuesday 2015.
Photo credits: Clement Issac
