Hat-trick of tries by Anuradha Wilwara and David Frank Hallifinu made way for the giants Kandy Sports Club to destroy the newly inaugurated Hambantota Sharks 48 points to 6 in their very first encounter held this evening at Nittawela.
The weather gods didn’t seem to be in favor of the day’s game as heavy winds and rainy conditions prevailed in the Kandyan territory throughout the game’s play making it uneasy for the players to move around the field with the ball. With the home team losing for the first time in 13 years at Nittawela last week, it was a must win for the Kandyans while the conditions prevalent were a whole new experience for the Sharks who are setting foot in the Kandyan territory for the first time.
The ambitious Kandyans started off in style Anuradha Wilwara drawing first blood within the first few minutes of play where he ran in through the Shark’s defense to score on the left flag. Fa’tanu didn’t quite hold grip on the kick as it did not have the energy to make way to the goal posts. Minutes after the restart came in the second of the Kandy tries, this too from Wilwara who repeated his previous act to score once more on the corner. Fa’tanu made no mistake this time but kicked it through adding the extras for the conversion.
With 25 minutes on to the first half of play hauled in the Shark’s first points which came through a penalty kicked off the 38m line. It was a soggy game with wet conditions in place, the two full backs of the teams Rehaan Weerakoon and Saliya Kumara were battling it out with clearance kicks with hopes of possible interceptions. Their strategies proved futile as Kandy always took major honors with Fa’tanu using such an interception as a breakthrough allowing #8 Andrew Porter to score their third try for the day. With an easy conversion the score escalated to 19 points. Wilwara who was having a splendid time on the field continued his form as he single handedly crossed over for his hat-trick minutes before the call for lemons. With Fa’tanu kicking another successful conversion, the teams stopped for the closure of half time with the scoreboard readings of 26-3.
The second half of play was just another copy of the first session of play. Both teams made in a series of changes and Coach Footie was seen sending in his entire substitution bench to play. Kandy rolled in with another try through their new Fijian center back David Frank Hallafinu who stepped his way through the crumbling Sharks for his first try in the Kandy outfit. It followed Richard Dharmapala scoring his debut on the right flag further into the game. Despite fielding in the subs, the Sharks couldn’t get momentum in place to counter attack their opposition. Hallafini continued his dominance in play as he crossed over twice again, one covering a range of over 70m as he scored his three tries coming in during the second half.
The Sharks game today was not quite upto the mark as they ve been in their previous game. The wind and wet conditions were a key factor for their unimpressive performance since this was something new to the team as a whole unit. Though the Sharks came close to the try line, they often failed out to work forward from the situation. The visitors were mainly busy protecting their line, had little time to spare to think of scoring. There were several collaborative efforts by the Sharks skipper Dev Anand to score but they ended up useless. All what they could were the two penalties which they scored.
With this win, Kandy will continue to keep up their reputation which was put on stake last week with their loss to the Sailors and with new faces blossoming in the Kandy jersey, there are prospects of them yet achieving their target of the grand prize; the League title.
Score summary Kandy 48 (4G 4T) to Sharks 6 (2P)
