The defending league rugby champions Kandy Sports Club who went into the game as favourites had to fight hard for their win against Air Force last evening at the Nittawela ground in their Nippon Paint inter club league first round match.
It marked Kandy SC’s third win in a row as they won by 24 points (two tries and two goals) to 18 (one goal, one try and two penalties) to keep their title hopes alive as the only unbeaten side.
In this game the Air Force were the first to score off a penalty in the ninth minute through the boot of Nuwan Perera and were hard at work from there on.
But Kandy SC came back with a good move and scored in the 17th minute through Tharinda Ratwatte who goaled it to make the score 7-3.
A few minutes later Air Force raked in another three points off a penalty to make the score 7-6 with Nuwan Perera doing the honours.
In the 25th minute Lavanga Perera scored a try and it went unconverted as the scoreboard read 12-6 in favour of the Kandy SC team which was the half time score.
In the first half both teams did their best and were hard at play as the forwards got into the action. But in the second half Kandy SC after some anxious moments were fully stretched by Air Force before they could end up as winners to keep their record in-tact.
The scorers in the second half for Kandy SC were Kavindu Perera and Dinal Ekanayake with Tharinda Ratwatte making the conversions.
The try scorers for Air Force were Kalana Chamuditha and Gayantha Iddamalgoda.
Overall both teams played well as they rucked, drove and powered their way to make it a close game. Kandy SC owed much of their success to a solid combination of their forwards and backs who eventually got the better of Air Force who for their part went down fighting.
Referee: Gihan Yatawara