01 Mar 2026

·         Defending champs to face Havies in semis 

Defending champions Kandy SC were forced to come out with all stops before managing to ground out an unconvincing 27-15 win over Army SC in the Maliban Clifford Cup Inter-Club Knockout quarter-final fixture in Nittawela yesterday (28 February).

The home team, despite winning, struggled to assert themselves against the visitors after having emptied their tank in successive exhaustive league games against CR & FC, the last a chastening loss to their archrivals at Longden Place in the Inter-Club Cup grand finale.

However, uncharacteristic errors on the part of the Soldiers paved the way for the knockout title-holders, who led 19-10 at the interval, to book their place in Tuesday’s (3) second semi-final against Havelock SC at the same venue.

Kandy’s tally materialised through four tries, of which two were converted apart from a penalty goal, while Army replied with three tries and were left to rue missed chances throughout.

Constant knock-ons and failure to press home the advantage when in the opposition red zone sealed their fate and fullback Lahiru Rathnayake’s off day from the kicking tee contributed to their eventual downfall.

Kandy too for their part looked knackered following a fortnight of nerve-wracking clashes with the Red Shirts, but did enough to advance to the last four of the country’s oldest and most prestigious domestic rugby competition.

For the winners, hooker Kenula Hettiarachchi, Tongan backrower Salesi Havea, impressive fullback Yuwan Pathirana, and fly-half Asiri Senevirathne grabbed a try each with halfback Anura Perera converting two of the tries and firing a penalty.

For Army, loose forward Vinod Kumar, centre Danushka Thalwatta, and prop Ijaz Ahamed scored the tries as they rounded off their club rugby season with much learnings and with renewed hope for the next season.

In the first semi-final, League Champions CR & FC are slated to host Plate Champions Air Force SC under floodlights at Longden Place tomorrow (2).

The winners of the respective semifinals are due to contest the knockout final on Saturday (7) with the venue yet to be confirmed. 

(JK)