Navy's Charith Silva celebrates his try for the Sailors
Navy Sports Club secured a hard-fought 24-23 victory over Police Sports Club in the Dialog Rugby League’s opening day action at the Police Park in Colombo.
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Both sides scored three tries apiece although Navy were made to work hard for this win as the Cops fought back bravely in the second half and were unlucky to miss out on what would have been a well-deserved victory. Navy led 14-10 at half time despite missing a penalty, however it was Police who missed two vital conversions handing back the advantage to the sailors.
The Police lineout was wobbly all afternoon while the Sailors’ one was immaculate. Police hooker Rasith Silva couldn’t find his jumper on quite many occasions however to their credit, the men from Police Park completely dominated the scrum making quite a strong case for themselves for the rest of the season to come.
Photo Album – Police SC vs Navy SC – Dialog Rugby League 2018/19 | #Match 1
The early exchanges were evenly contested as it took the sailors 23 minutes to penetrate the Police defense as Charith Silva drew first blood dotting down dropping over the line from close quarters after Adeesha Weerathunga was stopped meters short of the try-line. Initially Navy worked a brilliant set-piece from the back of the scrum handing over the ball to Adeesha to run. Thilina Weerasinghe added the extras from the flanks to give an early 7-0 lead. (Navy 07-00 Police)
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Police looked like they just would not give up without a fight. Emosi Vunivosa made a busting run in midfield collecting the ball from the back off the scrum and produced a silky offload for Uthpala Edirisinghe whose fine support running was rewarded as he got on the score sheet. Sachith Silva’s corner flag conversion did not find its target as Police brought back the lead to a slender 2 point margin. The single foreigner Emosi Vunivos made a huge difference to the Police outfit playing on either sides of field with much freedom balancing the odds out for Police.
By this point the Cops had well and truly wrested control of the game and soon Wageesha Weerasinghe grabbed his brace to give the hosts the lead. Earning the right to go wide by sucking in the Navy defenders, the scrum half showed good vision to throw a nice, pop ball out to from the back of the scrum to flanker Weerasinghe who had another routine flanker drop-down in the corner. (Navy 07-10 Police)
It didn’t take long for Navy to reply through with Thilina Weerasinghe delivering a trademark one-handed pass to Buddhima Piyarathne who also impressed with an equally brilliant run of 60m, cantering over for an easy five-pointer on the stroke of half time as Thilina Weerasinghe added the extras.
Half Time Score: Navy SC 14(2T 2C) – 10(2T) Police SC
The second half started brightly for Police as a classic set-piece play saw the Fijian center slice his way through the Navy defense to give Wageesha another pick and drop over line after been taken down inches from the try line. Amitha Prabath’s conversion gave the cops the lead for the time. (Navy 14-17 Police)
Both sides continued to attack although Navy suffered a setback in the 50th minute when number 8 Radeesha Senevirathne was sent to the sin bin for slowing the ball down cynically at a ruck deep inside his 22.
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Amitha Prabath extended the gap by another three points when he added the first penalty after Gavin Patrick infringed on defense having hands on the ruck. (Navy 14-20 Police)
Navy stepped up a couple of gears on attack and in the 60th minute Richie Dharmapala crossed for their third try after Adeesha Weerathunga did brilliantly with a bullocking run in the build-up. Thilina Weerasinghe added another crucial conversion. (Navy 21-20 Police)
After the sailors side were penalized for a superb scrum by the Police forwards, Prabath added another penalty to get the lead in the game which was swinging like the pendulum. (Navy 21-23 Police)
However, the Navy attack soared one after another finally earning themselves a penalty in the 80th minute as the referee called for as the last move. Thilina Weerasinghe held his nerve to put over the 35m penalty to give Navy a victorious start to the new campaign. (Navy 24-23 Police)
Full Time Score: Navy SC 24(3T 3C 1P) – 23(3T 1C 2P) Police SC
- ThePapare.com Player of the Match: Emosi Vunivosa
Score Breakdown
Navy SC:
Tries by Ritchie Dharmapala, Buddhima Piyarathne, Charith Silva
Conversion by Thilina Weerasinghe (3)
Penalties by Thilina Weerasinghe (1)Police SC:
Tries from Wageesha Weerasinghe (2T), Uthpala Edirisinghe
Conversion by Amitha Prabath
Penalties by Amitha Prabath (2)
