It was predicted that the Kandy – Army Dialog club rugby game will somehow prove to be a humdinger.
The tried and tested champions Kandy vs a gritty battle- hardened Army now being taken under the astute tutelage of foreign coach Ben Mc Dougall . Those who expected a stodgy match, as many previous Kandy – Army clashes have been, were mistaken as both sides carried the fight to each other and Kandy put together all their resources to finally pull of a win.
Amidst gloomy conditions Kandy began in ferocious fashion and edged ahead when the young Lavanga Perera notched his first try of the day within three minutes of kick-off. Fata’anu Fili made no mistakes in the conversion as Kandy took the early lead.
Army, mainly relying on the heavily built forwards, were successful in stringing phases together and advancing in to the Kandy territory regularly. However they were not clinical enough to break through the Kandy SC defense. Kandy on the other hand, was more reliant on their flamboyant back line and even though they could not display usual flare due to the soggy conditions, they played good tactical Rugby to come out on top.
The pendulum kept swinging both ways in the first quarter as the rain God’s showed no mercy and another game became a weather- victim. In the 33rd minute, a driving maul saw the Tongan No. 8 F. Samisoni scoring on right corner flag. KandySC lead Army by 14-3
With the clock ticking towards the breather, Heshan Silva of Kandy was sin binned by referee Irshan Cader. Army took opportunity to score in the right corner going into half time 14-8.
The second half started with more of the same -Kandy maintaining their policy of keeping the ball in hand with Army again on the back foot.
KandySC made a replacement with Andrew Porter, in for number 8 and soon after Kandy increased lead with Fili penalty to make it 20-8.
A Brilliant move by Fazil Marija supported by speedsters Anuruddha Wilwara and Lavanga Perera, as Kandy SC powered their way to scoring their third try of the game. However, the conversion failed.
Kandy’s Oshan Perera missed a tackle which proved costly as Army went on to score..Both teams traded a penalty each during this passage of play as the scores read 28-18 in favour of the boys from Nittawala.
Chila powered his way for KandySC to obtain bonus point and take score to 35-18. This time the two extra points were added for the home team.
Versatile Tharindu Chanaka was brought onto the field for first time with the experienced Saliya Kumara shifting to the wing.
However, Army Fijian player steam rolled through to score leaving the game wide open at 35-25. But Kandy Fly Half Fili Fa’tanu managed to pull off a drop kick in the last move of the game which ended the game with 38 points for Kandy.
Full Time – Kandy SC 38 – Army SC 25
