Police SC sealed the Nippon Paint Clifford Cup 2024 after beating Havelocks SC by 19 points to 12 at the Race Course Grounds yesterday (9).
The Plate Champions of the 2023/’24 season and the underdogs coming into the knockout achieved the unthinkable, first beating reigning unbeaten champions CR&FC and then going on to beat Havies in the finals yesterday.
The game got off to a slow start, with the first 20 minutes flying past with neither team getting anything on the scoreboard.
However, it was former Havies player Hirantha Perera who drew first blood at the 34th minute with the opening try. The conversion by Shane Hopwood wasn’t successful.
The cops had the chance to extend their lead but Prince Chamara missed out on a penalty, which meant they went into the break with a 5-0 lead.
In the second half, the teams took their time once again to hit the stride but desperation from either side ended up with a yellow card each in the space of three minutes. For Havies it was Senal Silva and for Police it was Lahiru Thilakarathne.
Shortly afterwards both sides opted for spot kicks but failed miserably, with Samuel Maduwantha missing one for Havies and Chamara and Hopwood missing one each for the cops.
As it neared the 70th minute, Police sparked some fire through a maul which saw Shanaka Harischandra creep through for their second try. Hopwood bisected the uprights to make it 12-0.
Havies finally responded with their first points when Mushin Faleel managed to spot a gap through the defence from close range to score under the post. Maduwantha’s kick was successful, which made it a 5-point game with nine minutes remaining on the clock.
However, the Cops played it smart in the last 10 minutes by keeping the ball in close quarters, using their forwards to build phase by phase and move closer to the try line.
After several phases from the restart, they managed to score the third try through Hafiz Thabith. Hopwood added the extras to put the game beyond Havies.
The boys from Park Road weren’t going to give up as they drew one back through some footy skills from Maduwantha and Jayathu Rajaratne but the time was up on the clock as the Cops jumped with joy after the whistle went off.
Full-time: Police SC 19-12 Havelock SC
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