A stellar second half comeback by hosta Navy helped them avenge their first round defeat against CH & FC, beating the latter 27-24 thanks to a late penalty from Thilina Weerasinghe.
Both teams scored 3 tries and 3 conversions but an extra penalty to the Sailor’s name saw them secure the match with the final kick of the game through Thilina Weerasinghe as he punished Samuel Maduwantha’s CH outfit for indiscipline.
Lee Keegal’s hopes of impressing on his return to Welisara was dashed as a knee injury saw him sidelined with Chula Susantha staring in the no.13 jumper.
It was the visitors team who started more hesitantly, shipping penalties and making errors. Thilina missed his first opportunity, however, Samuel Maduwantha made no mistake, taking CH into a surprise early lead.
CH put the slow start behind them and were awarded a penalty try as Buddima Piyarathne blatantly brought down Avishka Lee with a high tackle, resulting in a 7 pointer for the visitors.
Soon after fullback Avantha Lee touched down off a lucky break and when Maduwantha added the extras, Navy were trailing by 17 points, shell shocking the home faithful. (Navy 00-17 CH)
With 15 minutes remaining, the home team upped the ante and were awarded a penalty from the restart. The indiscipline of CH & FC did not help the visitors as Weerasinghe converted to get the scoreboard ticking for Navy.
Kasun De Silva touched down for the try that changed the game around
The home side built on the three points prior to half time as Kasun De Silva crashed over from close quarter to make it a 7 point game at lemons.
Half Time : Navy 10 (1T 1C 1P) trail CH & FC 17 (2T 2C 1P)
CH kicked off the second half and added to their half time lead through an early try from Rohitha Rajapakse. The Sailors scrum was surprisingly pushed over as the number 08 divided over the white wash to score for the visitors.
That was the last points for CH as Navy brought their A game back into the encounter shutting down the visitors with ease.
Stephan Gregory scored their second try from close quarters as Ravin Yapa and Yohan Perera both saw yellow with two high tackles.
Making use of the extra numbers, Navy scored their third of the evening through Lahiru Wishvajith. Thilina made no mistake with both kicks at goal as he levelled proceedings with less than 8 minutes left in the game. (Navy 24-24 CH)
Navy conceded a penalty with 4 minutes left on the clock. Samuel Madewantha’s kick from 49 meters away fell short as Navy looked to counter, kicking some gas into their final attack of the game.
Maduwantha himself conceded a silly penalty and saw yellow as Thilina was given an opportunity to snatch the game with the final kick.
Thilina took his time and made no mistake with the penalty from in front sealing a stellar comeback and a bit of revenge on CH.
Full Time: Navy 27 (3T 3C 2P) beat CH & FC 24 (3T 3C 1P)
ThePapare.com Player of the match: Ravin de Silva
Score breakdown
Navy – Kasun De Silva 1T, Stephan Gregory 1T, Lahiru Wishvajith 1T, Thilina Weerasinghe 3C 2P
CH & FC – Penalty try, Avantha Lee 1T, Rohitha Rajapakse 1T, Samuel Maduwantha 3C 1P.
Bookings
CH & FC – Ravin Yapa, Yohan Perera, Samuel Maduwantha
