By Shamzeer Jaleel
Kandy Sports Club took sweet revenge for their first round defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka Air Force when they scored an easy 73 points (11 tries, 9 conversions) to 13 point (2 tries, 1 penalty) win against the same opponents at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium on Sunday.
At the short breather Kandy led 40-03.
It was Kandy all the way dishing out cohesive rugby both by their speedy three-quarter line and the rock solid forwards who stood-out well in attack and defense.
Air Force who played well in the first five minutes could not keep up with Kandy SC’s pace. Dhanushka Ranjan, Richard Dharmapala and Vishwamithra Jaysinghe looked threatening with their moves. As usual Ranjan was in top form scoring two quick tries — one a solo intercepted try covering over 60 meters. Ranjan was taken out early in the game giving him the needed rest for their Havies game next weekend.
Air Force drew first blood early in the second minute when Kandy was penalized for a high tackle where Charith Seneviratne was on target with an easy penalty. But that was the only scoring by the visitors. Kandy opened their account through a forwards rush when their number 8 Buwanaka Udangamuwa touched down for Thilina Wijesinghe to add the extra points. Kandy who kept on scoring in tandem touched down through Ranjan (2), Dharmapala, Gayan Ratnayake and Kanchana Ramanayake. Thilina Wijesnghe converted four of them missing out only one.
In the second-half Kandy scored through Thilina Wijesinghe, Dharmapala, Vishwamithra, Attanagoda and Kanchana Ramanayake. Thlinia converted two of them and the other two saw Jamaldeen on target with the conversion kicks. For Air Force both tries were scored by replacement winger, Dinesh Weeraratne.
Kandy will lock horns with Havies on February 5 at Havelock Park which could decide the title winners.
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