Second half rally help CR down CH 32-14

by Jatila KARAWITA

In a tale of two half's, CR & FC, after struggling to assert themselves, in the first 40-minute period, cut loose in the second-half, to post a facile 32-14 win over CH & FC, in their Caltex Cup second round inter-club rugby match, ended at Longden Place yesterday.

The winners who led 11-7 at half-time, collected their points from three converted tries, a try and two penalties to two converted tries, by the visitors, in a game which failed to provide the anticipated sparks by and large, despite a few nicely executed tries from the home-side.

The red shirts took time to settle down as their powerful forward pack was checked by the opposition in the opening exchanges but after the restart the hosts proved their dominance to ultimately outscore the lads from Maitland Crescent by four tries to two.

CH scored first when in the 13th minute, hooker Bilal Hassen added the finishing touches to a smart break by debutant Royal skipper Naren Dhason, after a sequence of effective ball-handling by the forwards.

With Senthilkumar's conversion, CH led 7-0, before CR took control, to fire two Reza Mubarak penalty goals, and then dump a try in between, in the first-half.

The hosts sole try in the first-half, was grabbed in the 25th minute by inside centre Ashan de Costa, who intercepted a stray CH & FC, pass to run over 45 meters.

Following the turn around, CR planted three further converted tries, courtesy of right wing Dinesh Kumara (50th minute), number eight Dushanth Lewke (55th minute) and half back Srinath Sooriyabandara (63rd minute), to seal the game sans breaking sweat.

For the Gymkhana Club, veteran inside centre Sajith Mallikarachchi crossed over in the 52nd minute, after a classy break by number eight Dilanka Wijesekera, but they were always going to come up short, in a game which the visitors never had a cat in a hell's chance.

As a result of yesterday's win, CR & FC won the Nizar Hadji Omar Memorial Trophy, presented for the first-time for contests between the two team's, by an aggregate of 49 points to 24, after the first-round game ended 17-10 in favour of the red shirts.