CR & FC's Panduka Angammana (middle) breaks from the middle coming in as a replacement forward
CR & FC managed to clinch their third consecutive victory as they outplayed Police SC in their own den earlier this evening. CR secured the bonus point in the first half scoring four tries and converting 3, whilst Police only managed to score 2 converted tries and a penalty trailing 17 – 26 at half time. As the game progressed towards its end, CR added another two tries to their name and went onto win the game 38 – 17.
The League’s top points scorer, Tarinda Ratwatte, kick started the game for CR from right to left, with the wind on his back. From the get-go, things seemed unsettled and shaky for CR as the boys in red dropped balls and leaked penalties. Drawing first blood in the 4th minute, Sachith Silva converted a penalty to points as his kick sailed over the uprights, giving Police an early lead. (PSC 3 – 0 CR)
The home team looked to be well settled and working to a plan – until, the tables turned in the 11th minute. After winning a scrum inside the Police ’22, CR skipper, Kavindu Perera combining with Kevin Dixon and Reyhan Silva managed to put the experienced wing, Reeza Raffaideen over for the first try, in the near corner. Ratwatte failed to add the extras. (PSC 3 – 5 CR)
That’s when the Police downward spiral began! They lost the urgency, spark and intensity they displayed in the first ten minutes of the game after easily giving away possession and making unforced errors. Sensing the opportunity, CR managed to make the best out of the demoralized Cops as Kavindu Perera, Shehan Diaz and Chamod Fernando scored a try each in under 5 minutes.
Perera scored what could be considered the ‘try of the day’, as it was a showcase of what CR is really capable of doing. It started when Omalka Gunarathane made a good break from the back of a scrum inside the Police ’22, sucking in two defenders and offloading to the oncoming runner who repeated the same and offloaded to Ratwatte who then passed it on to Perera allowing him to slice through the Cops defence and touch down under the post. Diaz scored from the restart as the Cops paved the way for him by not showing any need to recollecting the ball. It was a one way ride for the second row as he touched down under the post. Fernando scored in similar fashion after just having to beat one defender in the corner. Ratwatte managed to slot in all the conversions putting CR in a comfortable position 21 minutes into the game. (PSC 3 – 26 CR)
Photo Album: Police SC v CR & FC | Dialog Rugby League 2018/19
In an attempt to get back into the game, Police were fighting through their forwards who were slowly inching towards the try line. It was exhausting for the forwards of both teams but however, Police were rewarded for their hard work in the 28th minute through skipper Udara Sooriyapperuma who snuck through the CR fringe defexce. 5 minutes later, the Cops were once again inside the CR red zone looking for their second try. Fortunately for them, after conceding three penalties CR gifted away a seven pointer for the home team. (PSC 17 – 26 CR)
Half Time: PSC trailed 17 – 26 CR
Police came into the second half with tons of unfinished business and mistakes to be rectified but, things only got worse as CR started off from where they left before lemons. As the rain began to fall, the game turned into a see-saw battle with both teams kicking possession from one side of the park to the other. Failing to collect one such kick cleanly was Police replacement fullback, Amitha Prabath, who knocked the ball on inside his own ’22.
In spite of knocking it on, he also let out his frustration by kicking the ball – but little did he expect the ball to end up straight into the arms of the CR speedster, Reeza Raffaiden who had to just draw and pass to his skipper Perera, who added salt to Prabath’s injury after touching down under the post. Police failing to learn from that mistake, made a mockery of errors two minutes later, which resulted in another try for CR through Rahul De Silva. The nippy scrum half had no one in front of him, after pouncing on a loose ball that no Police player wanted giving Silva acres of space in a broken field play. (PSC 17 – 38 CR)
It was too late for Police to make a comeback, as Referee Dinka Peiris blew the full time whistle under a pouring rain, confirming another victory for the Red shirts in this Dialog Rugby league 2018/19.
Full Time: CR won 38 – 17 PSC
- Player of the Match: Shemal Weerasekara (CR)
Score Breakdown PSC: Udara Sooriyapperuma 1T, Sachith Silva 1P, Amitha Prabath 1C, 1 Penalty try
Score Breakdown CR: Kavindu Perera 2T, Reeza Rafaideen 1T, Chamod Fernando 1T, Shehan Diaz 1T, Rahul De Silva 1T, Tharinda Ratwatte 4C
