Kandy manacle Air Force
By Aubrey Kuruppu
Kandy 50, Air Force 3
It was a pleasant stroll in the park for a rather changed Kandy outfit as they performed on cruise control to defeat the Air Force 50 points (5 goals, 3 Tries) to 3 points (1 Penalty) in their Clifford Cup knockout game at Nittawela yesterday.
The airmen were game triers, but Kandy talent and muscle power were difficult to contain. The Air Force showed their lack of rugby knowledge by kicking aimlessly and wasted quite a bit of possession. Most of the kicks ended in the safe hands of Weerakkody who drove them back.
The Airmen had quite a few short taps taken near the Kandy goal line, but they were short on ideas and also found Kandy's sturdy forwards impossible to pass.
Kandy led 19-0 at the short whistle thanks to tries by centre Vithanage, scrum half Buksh and Antonian school boy Eranda Swarnatilleka. Weerakkody goaled two of their tries.
Flanker Sean Wijesinghe went over shortly after the restart and to make it 24/0 Laga scored twice from close range , using his bulk and strength to good advantage. Buksh put over Lagas second try.
Randhika Hettiarachchi, who like Laga, Jema and Chelvam got into action in the second half, made a superb run for the right flank to touch down for a unconverted try. The other winger , Pushpakumara rounded off Kandy's scoring with a neat try which Weerakkody converted.
Air Force's full back Ranjith Anthony had a poor outing missing a couple of kickable penalties and putting over just one. Referee - D. Nimal
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Webmaster Editorial