Sports

Disallowed try and two missed penalties sink Sri Lanka’s hopes

  • Asian Five Nations Rugby Tournament 2011
By Shamseer Jaleel

A disallowed try and two missed penalties cost dearly for Sri Lanka and their glimmer of hopes in remaining in the top division of HSBC Asian Five Nations Tournament 2011 almost faded away last evening at Longdon Place in front of packed house. Sri Lanka were held to 13 all draw (two tries and one penalty) by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) At the short breather the scores were nil all.

The game was played under heavy rain and ball handling was very difficult for the three quarters. The Sri Lankan outfit having the best three quarters missed out a field day due to the bad and wet ground conditions. Nevertheless the forwards lived up to their expected standard. Though 100 KGS below their opponents they did hold on to the scrum remarkably well, led by skipper Sean Wijesinghe who was omnipresent. He was very fast on the loose ball and his defense was rock solid. Yoshitha Rajapakse too played his heart out occupying both Flanker and Pack Leader position. With ball on hand and in defense both Fazil Marija and Pradeep Liyanage looked threatening but hardly got any chances and gaps to run the ball in the initial half.

Airborne Lasintha de Costa is about to plant a try for the home team but it was disallowed by the Touch Judge and Referee. – Pictures by Sanka Vidanagama.

With rain settling down the Lankans used their three quarters more and moved the ball at every given opportunity. It was a happy note to see the three quarters tackling the bigger made UAE opponents on the spot.

Sri Lanka drew first blood in the second minute of the second half when winger Nuwan Hettiarachchi converted a 30 meter penalty. Five minutes later Sri Lanka scrum half Roshan Weeraratne worked the three quarters from our own 22 to see Prop Eranga Swarnatilleke dashing through 30 meters to touch down for a spectacular corner flag try.

UAE stand off Jonathan Grady reduced the lead through a neat 30 meter penalty kick at goal (8-3). Minutes later burly visiting prop Dane Botron crashed through for a forwards try. (8-8), during this period of play both sides kicked aimlessly and wasted a lot of good ball. A few minutes later UAE winger Steve Smith went through a shell shocked Sri Lanka defense to take the lead 13-8.

With scrum half Roshan Weeraratne playing an excellent game from the base, worked the line once more to see Nuwan Hettiarachchi slipping through a few defenders to touch down by the left corner flag to equal scores at 13 points a piece.

Five minutes later Sri Lanka got the opportunities -- not once but twice, to seal the game. But to the shock of the crowd both chances went astray. The first one was by Nuwan Hettiarachchi and the other by Full Back Saliya Kumara. With the minutes ticking away once more Sri Lanka worked their line and it was a seemingly spectacular try scored by the right corner flag by replacement winger Lasintha De Costa but the try was disallowed by the touch judge D. Nimal who consulted the referee.

Both teams will receive 3 points.

Referee Anthony Tobi Lothian of Hong Kong.

Touch-D Nimal and Kenneth Roland (Hong Kong)

In the other five nations match played today, Hong Kong beat Kazakhstan in Almaty 23-10.
Sri Lanka now will lock horns with Hong Kong on May 7 at the same venue. This will be a do-or-die game for the home country with only Kazakhstan (May 14-away -- Almaty) and Japan (May 21 also in Colombo) remaining.

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