‘Dark horse’ Police carry much hope as they battle Havies in rugby final

By A Special Sports Correspondent

Police Sports Club could be termed the most improved team in the domestic scene and rugby fans are sure to rally around them when the cops battle Havelock Sports Club in the finals of the Clifford Cup knockout tournament which is scheduled for Saturday (March 9) at the Race Course.

Their giant killing feat came in the semi finals when they handed CR&FC a bitter blow; defeating the latter 40-16 in a run- away win. CR looked to be disarray and allowed the policemen to run circles around them. What happened to CR at this semi final needs investigation or analysis if the former word is too strong. But then we have to move on to the next stage of the tournament and for that focusing on police hogging the limelight is where the focus of media and rugby fans is going to be.

The format of the league tournament, conducted before the knockouts,  unlike in the past, allows us to see clearly how the bottom half teams went ahead with their rugby duties. None of the forces teams along with Police made much of an impact in the league tournament and were forced to play in the Plate competition. This meant less honours for them.

But Police kept their focus on the game and hopes high of a podium finish and they achieved that. Now they can be rated as the ‘dark horse’ of the tournament. A dark horse is certainly not the favourite team in the competition. But it is a team good enough to come from behind and finish as the winner.

This police side is now feared in the club rugby scene and the way they dismantled CR was pretty scary. The side led by Mohan Wimalaratne had skilled players in the like of Prince Chamara, Hirantha Perera, Shane Hopwood, Sujan Kodithuwakku, Sachith Silva and last season’s Isipathana College captain Navin Kanishka. Much is expected of coach Nilfer Ibrahim in guiding them towards making their appearance in the final memorable.

On the other hand Havelock SC have lived up to expectations this season and continued gallantry from the third place finish in the league tournament to enter the knockout final. Havelock SC is still a club that can draw the cream of school leavers. They got probably the most outstanding schoolboy player from last season; Peterite centre Sudesh Jayawickreme. He has been an asset to the Park Club side with his ball handling skills and prowess shown with the kicking boots. The other players to watch in this side are Sandesh Jayawickreme (Sudesh’s brother), Mushin Faleel, Soorya Dodangoda, Mohammed Rifan, skipper and hooker Azmir Fajudeen, Randika Warnapura, Jayathu Rajaratne, Samuel Maduwantha, Chathura Dishan and Oliver Buckle. The side is coached by Saliya Kumara.

When the two sides met in the league tournament- which was the only occasion they met this season- Havies romped home easy winners with a score of 16 points to 5.

The teams:

Police SC rugby pool from:H. Fernando, C. Kavindya, V. Shaveen, L.Yomal, Mohan Wimalaratne, (Captain), D. Srimantha, D.Harishchandra, S.Fernando, S.A Kumara, V. Randeepa, Prince Chamara, J. Chanaka, R. Madushanka, N. Paranamana, S.Kodithuwakku, S. Hopwood, C. Iroshan, M. Kumarasiri, V. Fernando, D.Edirisooriya, Sachith Silva, M.Thabeeth, Hirantha Perera, S.Jayawardene, Naveen Kanishka and Praveen Stephan

Havelock SC pool from: F. Abdulla, Azmir Fajudeen (Captain), J. Fernando, S. Dodangoda, Shehan Dias, M. Madumawan, S. Silva, Christian De Lile, R. Fernando, S. Jayawickreme, R.Warnapura, M. Faleel, D. Senewiratne, Samuel Maduwantha, N.Athukorala, Shehan Silva, U. Lakshan, G.Weerasinghe, Oliver Buckle, J. Chandimal, Chanaka Chandimal, Jayathu Rajaratne