Kandy continue dominance to ground Air Force

By Shamseer Jaleel at Nittawela

Kandy Sports Club completed its first-round home matches when they grounded the high-riding Air Force Sports Club by 37 points (6 tries, 2 conversions, 1 penalty) to 5 points (1 try) at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium last evening.

At the short breather, the home team led 13-0.

Kandy’s precision and creativity were on full display, with Kavindu Perera, Heshan Jensen, Asiri Seneviratne, and Dahan Wickremarachchi being on top of their game. Their forwards laid a solid platform, ensuring quick ball and control at the breakdowns.

For Air Force, this defeat highlighted their resilience, particularly in the second half. They’ll aim to build on their moments of promise as the season progresses. Their forwards dished out a good game plan in the initial half but lacked support from their three-quarters badly. The outfit from Ratmalana sits dangerously in 4th place with 17 points and can’t afford to slip further, as only the top four qualify for the Cup segment in the Super round.

The game began with Tarinda Ratwatte opening the scoring with a penalty in the 8th minute of the game. Kandy’s backline soon found their rhythm, with winger Kavindu scoring their first try in the 17th minute after slicing through the weaker opposition defence. Dinal Ekanayake added a second Kandy try in the 25th minute, powering over the line after sustained forward pressure.

After the short breather, number 8 Dahan followed up with a clinical finish. Jansen Fernando added another try, giving Kandy a commanding 23-0 lead. But to everyone’s surprise, half-fit Tarinda, coming back from injury, missed all 4 conversions that were within his range on a normal day. A few minutes later, Kandy’s three-quarters got to top gear with Diluksha Dange’s arrival, and working the line in electrifying speed saw Danushka Ranjan scoring a try for the home team. Asiri, taking over the kicking duty, was on target with the kick at goal.

The Air Force scored through a forwards rush with Sandanu Mandiv touching down. Srinarth Sooriyabandara danced his way to score Kandy’s last try under the posts, which was once again goaled by Asiri to give an easy 37-5 win. With all home games coming to an end, Kandy will travel back-to-back with games against Police and CR in the heat of Colombo.

Referee: Raveen Alexander