HAVIES OUTSMART NAVY TO BE CROWNED SECOND BEST
In the battle for the overall runner’s-up trophy of the Dialog Premier League 2016/17, Havelock SC emerged victorious outsmarting hosts Navy SC 36-28 in the final game of the season played at the Welisara Navy Grounds yesterday.
Havelock, having lost all their chances of claiming the championship after being beaten by eventual winners Kandy SC last week, were given a tough time throughout the game by the hosts who eventually cracked under pressure. Havies got their points off three goals and three unconverted tries while the hosts only managed two goals, a try and three penalties.
The “Park Club” outfit were up 17 points to 13 when Singaporean referee Charlie Brown blew for half-time.
The hosts drew first blood as soon as the game kicked off through lock Stephan Gregory, who pounced at the chance of being able to slip through the Havelock defence to touchdown. The extras were added off the boots of fullback Thilina Weerasinghe, and Navy were up 7-0 by the third minute.
It took a while for the Havies to settle down as they gradually started, gaining possession in their opponents territory. After about five minutes of play dangerously close to the touchline, centre Hirantha Perera planted the ball over the line after collecting the ball off a Chamara Dabare pass. Hirantha missed the conversion however, and the scores were amended to 7-5.
Havelock took the lead three minutes later when a clearance by a Navy player fell into the hands of centre Nishon Perera, who was quick enough to touchdown to score their second try. Hirantha added the extras with ease this time, and Havelock SC were up 12 points to 7.
Weerasinghe bisected the uprights through two consecutive penalties within a span of three minutes, which put the hosts ahead by a single point a few moments later. He failed to take them up further however, as the ball deflected off the pole in a third penalty 10 minutes later from a relatively easy distance. Having collected the lose ball, Havelock SC counter attacked, which saw Hirantha put on a valiant run along the touchline and his inside pass was cleanly collected by Kevin Dixon who dived in to touchdown to amend the scores to 17-13 just before the referee blew for halftime.
Navy were awarded a penalty just after play was resumed, but the crowd stared in disbelief as Weerasinghe’s kick missed the poles by a whisker. He managed to make up for the miss 10 minutes later however, as he touched down to make the scores read 18-17.
Havelock SC were reduced to 14-men soon afterwards when Niroshan Fernando was sinbinned. The resulting penalty was put over, but that was all that Navy could capitalize on, playing with the advantage of an ‘extra’ man on field.
Nishon scored Havelock’s fourth try of the evening after collecting a Hirantha-pass close to the touchline, which put the visitors ahead by a solitary point. (Havelock 22-21)
Navy’s Chanaka Chandimal thought that he had pulled off a try minutes later, but the referee had his whistle blown to halt play due to a forward pass prior to the touchdown, much to the frustration of the home side.
Nishon was at it again as he succeeded in planting a try for the third time, after Navy No.8 Niwanka Prasad fumbled in his clearance close to the touchline, which handed the ball straight into the hands of the player. Hirantha was successful at the conversion and the scores were made 29-21.
Navy’s Chamith Madusanka was shown yellow for a high-tackle on Niroshan, but Havies were not able to score off the resulting penalty.
With time-running out, the home side deployed players up field to grab some points, and were successful when substitute Gayan Wickramaratne touched down and went on to add the extras through the conversion. (Navy 28-29)
Navy’s hopes of turning the tables were destroyed when Havelock’s Senal Silva dived in under the posts to score their sixth try of the evening. With the conversion, the scores were amended to 36-28 when the referee blew the long-whistle.
AIR FORCE DOWN ARMY
In the second fixture of the final week of the Dialog Premier League 2016-17, Air Force SC were able to emerge victorious when they beat Army SC 43 points to 26 in their match played at Longdon Place yesterday. The winners who were up 24 points to 12 at the halftime break, collected their points through four goals and three tries while the Soldiers were only able to score three goals and a solitary try. With the win, Air Force ended their campaign in fifth place, while their opponents finished sixth.