Havies beat Police to reach semis
Havelocks Sports Club advanced to the semi-final of the SLR-Maliban Clifford Cup Knockout Rugby Championship 2025/26 with an imposing 29-10 win against a gritty Police Sports Club outfit in the quarter-final clash played at Havelock Park yesterday.
Despite conceding control of the game for long periods, Havies raked out their inspiring win after posting four tries, three conversions and a penalty, while leading by 17-10 at halftime, an unexpected position they chose to sit on. The Cops, who had most of the control of the second half of play despite failing to convert their efforts into points, managed to earn their points from two unconverted tries, both posted during the first half.
Havies will travel to Nittawela tomorrow - Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
The hosts, who earned hosting rights after finishing as the third best team in the concluded SLR-Maliban Club Rugby League 2025/26, got off to an impressive start with an early try off a maul in the fifth minute when lock Vunaki Waqanibau braced in. With the successful conversion from fullback Nabeel Yahiya, Havies led 7-0.
Similarly, the home team continued their onslaught leaving the Police SC defence in tatters to leave centre Dilhara Kodagoda passage to scrape through in the 17th minute for their second try. Yahiya slotted his second successive conversion to gain a healthy 14-0, lead before adding three more points from a penalty three minutes later to make it 17-0.
But as Havies looked settled and comfortable, they loosened up their grip to let the Cops dominate during the remainder of the second half. In the 28th minute, winger Sujan Kodituwakku barged through to land the first try to add points on the board. In a similar move lock Heshan Kalhara found a loophole to brace Police SC’s second try in the 35th minute, but with both conversions failing to go through they trailed by 10-17 at the break.
With the newfound energy, the Cops continued to navigate with ease, dominating over Havelocks soon after hooker Azmir Fajudeen landed an unconverted try for the hosts in the 51st minute to extend their lead to 22-10. Police continued to capitalise forcefully, yet failed to add any points to their tally, but managed to force Hacelocks flyhalf Sudesh Jayawickrama out of the park briefly for a yellow-card offence in the 66th minute.
Even with a man down, Havies held on to their grip until Jayawickrama, returning from the sin-bin landed a try in the final-play manoeuvre and seal a 29-10 win following a successful conversion. Havelocks will now travel to Nittawela to meet Kandy Sports Club tomorrow in the semi-final clash.