You see stars when the lights go out
The pride of a showpiece park equipped to play under lights turned to embarrassment as the Dialog League game between hosts Havelock Sports Club and Hambanthota Sharks was called off. The game which was to start at 18.30hours was delayed for ten minutes as the doctor was late. Alas! Then with both teams on the field and ready for the whistle the lights flickered and struggled only to fail leaving the ground in darkness.
Once, Ralph Waldo Emerson quipped “When it is dark enough you can see the stars”. Seeing stars this time was no joy as it was like a sudden bolt wakening to face a reality that no match will be played at Havelock Park on Monday the 18th.
Fans flocked to see rugby under lights possibly with a cool glass by the side. The Match between Havelock’s Sports Club and debutant Hambanthota Sharks was abandoned without the whistle being blown. The first failure of the lights was a moment of thrill to spectators who enjoyed a hoot reminiscent to the catcalls heard from the gallery of a cinema when the projector failed. Despite various at- tempts time passed 30 minutes in darkness. The hoot turned to jeering of annoyance. Finally when the lights came on 40 minutes later with a standby generator commissioned the Sharks had changed and was ready to get back to Hambanthota.
The match which was to be played on the 15th was postponed to be played on the 18th due to CHOGM. The unexpected generator pack up was the cause as the lights were shinning bright from around 17.45 for a match that was to start at 18.30. A simple issue that caused all the embarrassment was the non availability of a disaster recovery plan. Big words used to describe “to be ready”. A standby generator in situ would have done the trick. You don’t need rocket scientists to think this out. You have played before, practiced under lights and who ever thought this would have happened?
The fiasco lead to most people asking will it be a case of sharing points or a replay or a forfeit. I believe the rules allow the teams decide and play within 48 hours or failing which the organizers are to reschedule the match. On the brighter side: This is not the first time a light failure has caused embarrassment at a sporting event.
Rugby during the week did not reach a crescendo to be proud of. An excuse touted was that the boys have not played rugby for over a year with the change of the calendar. On the other hand that long layoff should have given players the chance to recover and heal the injuries and correct the mistakes. The way the ball was dropped and tackles missed I do wonder whether the layoff has been profitably used. One thing that did not seem missing was the number of body builders on the rugby fields. Some seemed much inflexible and there was no mystery to dropping the ball.
The change of calendar which was done to avoid clashes with the schools league and the international events and is no doubt a good thing. However match times need to be changed at least in December as darkness steps in much early. Again a little thought of knowing the weather patterns as well as the times for onset of darkness could have avoided playing conditions of less light.
The matches during the weekend saw a close game at Diyagama where the Army beat the Police 15-14 in a close game. The game was rather slow paced and a feature was a lot of drooped passes. Both teams need to polish the loose ends if they are to make any impact during the season. At Welisara the Navy had a good game against Air Force and beat them by 33 points t o 3. Having taken an early lead the Navy team relaxed in the second half. Air Force who has a number of newcomers does not field any foreigners in their team. Kandy boasting of a mix bag of veterans and talented school leavers supported by the foreign players were merciless on an inexperienced CH side that lost to Kandy by 69 points to 9. In Nawalapitiya the Upcountry Lions beat CR and FC by 45 points to 12. While the red shirts were very disappointing the continued dropping of the ball by both sides reduced seeing rugby action. It looked like CR was at sea most of the second half and let the Lions run at will. The Lions who played with 14 players for most parts of the game were found to be weak in the scrums. The first red card of this year’s league was handed to Raikabula of the lions who has also been given a one match ban by the judiciary.
The games during the first week were average docile affairs and would only be expected to boil when the closer contested games will be expected from the third week.