Watched the last week big game, Navy vs Havies. I am
not going to talk about refereeing or atmosphere at Welisara which
are irrelevant factors for Havies loss. I saw various reasons on
social media by fans , but if you read them most were BS. Simply most
of them haven't watched the game and just pointing at many things.
First Navy try was a example of sheer foreign power. I was at
the perfect angle to view it. Navy outside center just
brutally brushed away Havies defenders who were shy to engage with
him. Then only they decided to confront him up and close and
throughout the game they handled Navy foreigners much better.
I you wonder why Navy won against both Kandy and Havies , answer is
plain simple. They were the more hungrier team which has perfect
appetite for win. They were well prepared and planned well , which
other teams didn't.
What
Havies did well?
Forwards. Led by Muthuthantri, Havies looked really dangerous forward
pack to me. Specially with the return of Shenal Dias they were the
best forward pack for me on that day. Having the guys like “lema”
Pathirana, Sharo Fernando who are giving more than 100% work rate,
they were better than their counter parts. I think return of Shenal
Dias has upgraded their quality while some tooth to it.
Weakness
and reason to loose
If you followed Havies games this season, you would have noticed the
fact that they were given very anxious moment's by their opponents.
They won every other battle before , but I felt they didn't stamp
their authority like a champion team should do. What happened on
Saturday was exactly that.
Niroshan Fernando had a game to forget. The way he played reminded me
the match against Madagascar which he debut for Sri Lanka. He was
nervous and made blunders under pressure. While the game going on, a
guy behind me said what Niro is doing. He said “if he starts well ,
he continues do well. If he starts bad , then forget about it”.
Thats what exactly happened. Niro started nervously and continued to
do so. His kick was smothered by Navy attackers and crucial try was
scored. Again I was in a perfect view when that happened. Niro had
ample time to clear the ball, dummy , pass or what ever he wanted to
do. But he was slow and mad e a mess of it.
9/10
combination
Havies 9/10 combination was awful and it where they lost the game for
me. Young Meedin is touch slow and too predictable in his play and
Niro didn't do too great either. So they made a perfect combination
for a loosing team. Havies lacked creativity in the mid field, killer
instinct thanks to that. If you compare other front runners , Kandy
have Roshan/Marija and Navy too with Suranga/Chandimal. Even CR got
lot of options at scrum half and Rimzie Jamaldeen doing realy well at
#10.
Discipline
What ever game it is Discipline is a key. if you are not , simple thing can take away the game from you. Sharo did exactly that after Havies successfully got the ball near their try line when Navy knocked on. He punched a player and gave away easy penalty to Navy , which was the first score of the second half with out any complaints.
So those are my thoughts on game. In next article I will look at next
week's big game.
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