This victory by the Access team is a fitting tribute to their head coach Nilfer Ibrahim who execute and inflict a superb brand of attacking rugby and dished out a fabulous player substitutions in the crucial moments of the game thus bringing this victory to his team ably assisted by Sri Lanka National Under 18 head coach M.J.M Mushtaq in the end.

In the second minute of play Dialog opened scoring through their fly half Dulaj Perera who scampered through for a try near the right corner flag off a beautiful three quarter move which he himself missed the conversion. Dialog ‘A’ led five points to Nil.

Within the space of two minutes Dialog ‘A’ scored again through forward Soyuru Anthony who dummied his way over to touch down for a try under the post after a well compiled three quarter move. Fly half Dulaj Perera made the simple conversion and they went into a hefty 12 points to nil lead.

In the seventh minute of play Access opened scoring when their scrum half Richard Darmapala sliced through the Dialog defence and darted down to score a fine try mid right and their Fly half Chanaka Chandimal slotted the conversion to cut down the lead to 12-7.

Just on the stroke off half time off a Dialog line out throw in their 22 metre line, the ball was collected by Access winger Danusha Dayan who burst through to touch down for a brilliant try under the post after covering nearly 80 metres .Chandimal made the conversion and Access were leading by 14 – 12 at lemons.

After the resumption Access went in to a further lead in the 19th minute of play off a maul by their dynamic forward Buwaneka Udangamuwa who gave a superb inside pass to his winger Kavindu Perera who scampered through for a try mid right. Chandimal put over the conversion once more to increase the lead by 21-12.

In the very next minute star national centre Danushka Ranjan collected the ball off a three quarter move and ran nearly 70 metres brushing off several Dialog defenders to touch down for a spectacular try under the post and Chandimal made no mistake with the conversion and Access went further ahead by 28 points to 12.

In the final minute of play Access worked their three quarters wide where winger Danusha Dayan collected the ball and sprinted his way over for a try mid right after covering close to 55 metres.

Chandimal who had a magnificent day with his boot made the conversion to have a 100% kicking record in this finals and Access International ran out worthy winners by 35 points to 12 in the end.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily News – Access International head coach the jubilant Nilfer Ibrahim said “The boys played their hearts out and we made the tactical moves accordingly, Especially the substitutions at the right time of the game and that really paid off in the end.

Last time we won this trophy way back in year 2000 which i was part of the winning team then as a senior player and after 16 years the fate was such that i was once again part of the winning team, but this time around as the head coach. So in the end i am really a happy man to have three major tournament wins back to back (Inter Schools league and knock out with Isipathana & Mercantile sevens with Access)” concluded Ibrahim.

The winning Access team comprised of Srinath Sooriyabandara(Captain), Wishvamithra Jayasinghe, Jason Dissanayake, Kavindu Perera, Chanaka Chandimal, Danushka Ranjan, Saliya Handapangoda, Buwaneka Udangamuwa, Kevin Dixon, Chula Susantha, Danusha Dayan and Richard Darmapala. Head Coach-Nilfer Ibrahim, Asst.Coach- M.J.M. Mushtaq

Irshad Cader refereed.

In the plate finals the gallant Nation Lanka Finance edged out the favourites John Keels ‘A’ by 26 points to 22 win the championship.

Meanwhile the formidable John Keells ‘B’ Thrashed Dialog ‘B’ 22-5 to win the Bowl Championship and Brandix won the Shield Championship when they thrashed Pan Asia Bank by 24 points to 7.

The law-enforcing team, who led 10-7 at lemons, collected their points from two goals and three tries while CH scored two goals and a penalty. The Maitland Crescent club team put up an improved performance in the return leg, compared to the 0-62 thrashing they suffered against the same team in the first round.

The first half was evenly contested with Police taking only a close three-point lead at the short whistle. But Police cut loose in the second half to add 19 more points. The winners scored five tries and two of them were converted by Riza Raseideen.

Joining the Police try feast were Chula Susantha, Joel Perera, Udara Chanaka, Mohammed Sheriff and Sudam Suriarachchi. The two CH tries were scored by Gemunu Hettinayake and Mohammed Rizwan. Janith Chandimal converted one of those tries while Sajith Bandara put over a penalty.

Thus, the high-riding Police SC maintained their superb form in recent matches, following their exciting wins over Army SC (47-45) and much fancied Navy SC (16-11) in successive weekends. Sheriff has played a significant role towards Police SC’s recent success with some dynamic moves, irrespective of the position he plays.

He scored a try in yesterday’s encounter as well while their forwards combined effectively with the back division to edge out CH.

Going by the crossovers, new entrants and exodus of players from club to club, Police perhaps have stood to gain more as they look to deploy a star cast of exponents that rival teams may grudge or need to buckle up to challenge.

Like it or not, Havelocks will have to bear the brunt of a Police backlash and face hardcore players like Sharo Fernando, Bilal Hassan, Reza Mubarak and Chamara Dabare who have crossed over from Navy, Mohamed Sheriff and Chula Susantha who quit Army.

“We are expecting our new intakes to take us to the next level with their experience”, said Police Rugby secretary and former Sri Lanka prop Hafeel Marso.

“With these players we are capable of competing against any team in the League and our target is to finish in the top three and that’s not to say we cannot win the title.”

Police have also enlisted a new trainer in former Sri Lanka Number Eight Dushanth Lewke while the team is coached by Lalith Weeraratne with fly half Lahiru Gurusinghe as captain.

Besides facing up to a Police juggernaut, Havelocks will also have to find their feet as they set about to convince their supporters who have had very little to brag about since the Park Club won the League in 2012 after a 31-year lapse.

Flying winger Sandun Herath will have more than just a role to play as he captains Havelocks who have re-enlisted their former charismatic coach Tulagaese Tawita, a Samoan better known as Laga who guided them to the League title in 2012.

Laga will have to be the main driving force behind the scene if Havelocks are to go places and regain lost pride in a season that offers nothing to the lesser mortals and is being touted as anyone’s playground.

“This side is different from 2012. There is more balance and it’s only a matter of motivating them”, said Laga. But while the Havelocks-Police clash is expected to draw most of the fans, Navy and Air Force will actually raise the League curtain on the same day at Welisara in a match that both teams will look to gauge their strengths and weaknesses.

Navy will have to depend on a high element of schoolboys to overcome many voids following the exit of the elite of their players to Police and Kandy.

Among their new faces are former Isipathana College play-maker and Number Eight Omalka Gunaratne and St. Joseph’s College prop forward Steven Gregory.

Apart from Police opening their doors to Navy’s battled hardened players, Kandy have also enticed Srinath Suriyabandara, Soyura Anthony and Wishwamithra Jayasinghe to leave the Welisara club rendering it a team on rough seas under coach Nilfer Ibrahim.