Kandy bounce back to down Airmen

After being forced to trail in the first half by a mere point, defending SLR Nippon Paint Club Rugby League title holders, Kandy SC bounced back to record a thumping 30-13 win against an energized Air Force unit in their fourth week match played at Ratmalana yesterday.

Kandy SC had to shift their strategy following a challenging first half, executing a clinical resurgence to score five tries, a conversion, and a penalty, thereby securing crucial bonus points. The Airmen, who had surprised their more favored opponents by leading 6-5 at halftime, managed to score from a single try, a conversion, and two penalties.

Centre Gayantha Iddamalgoda gave Air Force the much needed boost by putting over a penalty in the 15th minute and gain an early lead of 3-0, before Kandy SC flyhalf Lakshitha Ranaweera intercepted the retaliating Airmen to cover almost the entire field and touch down three minutes later.

Kandy’s 5-3 lead was shortlived as Iddamalgoda took the gamble to kick a penalty in the 36th minute from a relatively long distance. But his kick was a success, as Air Force took a slender 6-5 lead and held on to it until halftime, despite Kandy losing their skipper and centre Lavanga Perera in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

The second half presented a stark contrast as Kandy entirely altered their approach, forcing Air Force to defend their territory. However, they failed to prevent a rolling maul formed by Kandy forwards in the 47th minute, resulting in Sanushka Abeywickrama touching down for an unconverted try. The game was briefly halted due to lightning with Kandy leading 10-6.

Upon resumption centre Suranga Kasun touched down twice for Kandy, in the 60th and 70th minutes, as they expanded the lead to 20-6. A minute later Asiri Seneviratne put over a penalty to put Kandy further away at 23-6.

A minute before he was sent off for a yellow card offence, Tharindu Chathuranga touched down for Kandy in the 77th minute. With Seneviratne’s conversion they firther expanded the lead to 30-6. With the advantage of an extra man, Air Force finally got through their effort to have Sandalu Mandev scoring for the host and Nadun Gunasekara converting it, just before the long whistle.