Hambantota Sharks won the battle of the underdogs when they beat CH and FC 47-20 in their first round Dialog League inter club rugby tournament match worked off at the Beliatta Stadium on Saturday.
Both teams had much to prove as the Sharks had Samoans in their ranks while CH and FC possessed Fijians. But the Sharks swallowed up everything that came their way to romp home winners.
For a team that had scored just two tries in four previous games, the Sharks eventually crossed the line as many as seven times as they ran circles around the Colombo team which had a better try-record going into the match which was six.
In front of a small band of supporters the Sharks combined well with their forwards and backline to dominate the set-pieces and were also able to overcome the embarrassment of an aggregate of just 34 points made from their previous four games.
As the final scoreline may indicate, the Sharks made merry with two tries from their Samoan player and Number Eight Failalaga who also made two conversions as they raked in their points from six goals and one try.
Failalaga would have missed scoring at least one more try but it never mattered in the end for the Sharks who were well on course to winning the match with a convincing margin.
The way the Sharks played was quite a contrast to their previous games where they lacked cohesion. The result was about things to come.
Their other Samoan, Roma, scored one try to join the party. With everything to play for, the Sharks made a mockery of the Colombo rivals as Salindra Ekanayake, Niranjan Wickremaratne and Rajitha Samaranayake crossed the line for tries.
The way they ran and scored gave the indication that the Sharks have been able to find their feet and could now move into the remainder of the League matches with a large degree of confidence.
Ekanayake, Wickremaratne and Samaranayake could have scored more tries than they did, but they took it easy at times perhaps conserving their energy for the bigger games ahead and in all probability realizing they could stake a claim for the Plate in the second round.
Fly half Dev Anand also chipped in with four superb conversions and he enjoyed a good game with some kicks to touch that deprived CH of gaining ground and regrouping to regain any pride.
Anand also fed his line well and ensured that every bit of possession that came their way was put to good use as the Sharks sounded a warning that they have not come to fall to the dictates of each and every team in the League.
It was a match that CH and FC will want to forget as they struggled to find their feet with a team that is yet to prove itself after thrashings in five matches in which they conceded as many as 326 points to lie at the bottom of the table.
They were able to cross the line for tries only on just three occasions as they played in patches and never looked threatening at any stage to the Sharks.
Even the limited possession they managed to rake in the CH and FC team squandered it by kicking and poor passing that only helped the Sharks to grow in confidence with an assurance that the match result in their favour was never in doubt.
The small crowd that witnessed the match had no doubts that CH and FC will have plenty of soul-searching to do if they are to get out and shed the underdog tag as the season’s momentum picks up.
