Havelock Sports Club powered into the semi-finals of the Mastercard Clifford Cup with a commanding 40 points to 18 points vin over Army Sports Club in their quarter-final clash at Havelock Park yesterday.
The home side led 26-11 at half time and never looked back as they booked a place in the final four.
Havelocks scored five converted tries and one unconverted try, while Army SC managed one converted try, one unconverted try and two penalties.
The opening try of the match came in the third minute when Havelocks’ wing three-quarter Janidu Wijeratne finished off a brilliant move by the forwards and three-quarters. Fly-half Sandesh Jayawickrama made the conversion to give Havelocks an early 7-0 lead.
Army SC responded almost immediately through fullback Isuru Medagedara, who slotted a 25-metre penalty to cut the deficit to 3-7 in the fourth minute.
Havelocks extended their lead in the 13th minute when fly-half Sudesh Jayawickrama executed a pinpoint pass to Wijeratne, who crossed the line for his second try. Jayawickrama added the extra points giving them a lead of 14-3.
Medagedara kept Army in the fight with a 10-metre penalty in the 17th minute, making it 14-6.
However, Havelocks continued with their attacking dominance. In the 26th minute, winger Jayathu Rajaratne showcased his finishing skills with a well-executed try mid-right, highlighting the class of the Havies backline. Jayawickrama converted, extending the lead to 21-6.
Rajaratne struck again three minutes later with a solo effort, breaking through Army’s defence for an unconverted try, pushing their score to 26-6.
Army hit back in the 35th minute through flanker Kaveen Perera, who touched down for their first try.
The visitors trailed 11-26 at half time.
Six minutes after the restart, Army’s fly-half Ashen Bandara crossed the line and winger Lahiru Ratnayake converted to take their score to 18 points.
Havelocks responded in the 58th minute when replacement wing three-quarter Chethana Rajaratne, filling in for the injured Janidu Wijeratne, capitalized on a brilliant pass from scrum-half Kalidu Silva to touch down mid-left. Jayawickrama’s conversion increased their score to 33-18.
The final nail in the coffin came in the 73rd minute when burly prop forward Shehan Silva bulldozed his way over the line after a powerful driving maul. Jayawickrama converted, sealing their victory 40-18.
With this convincing victory, Havelocks advanced to the Clifford Cup semi-finals, where they will face their traditional rivals CR & FC on Wednesday (2) at Havelock Park.
For Army SC, the loss marked the end of their Clifford Cup campaign, finishing seventh in the season standings out of nine teams.
Referee: Kelum Sandaruwan.
