The much awaited 2nd round of the Singer Schools’ Rugby League kicked off on the 1st of June after a break of two months. The league resumed with the most anticipated and the most attended fixture in the schools season, The Bradby Shield.
A Shield was donated in 1945 by then Royal Principal E.L Bradby to the winner of the encounters on the aggregate score. Trinity College won the first encounter in 1945, and from there on Trinity has won the shield on 39 occasions while Royal has won it 34 times, with the shield being shared among the two schools on 2 occasions.
The two schools locked horns for the 75th time this year with one aim, to win the Bradby Shield.
Although Royal College had dominated the Blue Ribbon Encounter for the last 5 years, Reshan Bandaranayake’s team showed great spirit to win back shield. Royal College led by Thulaib Hassan had only one thing in mind, to take the shield back to Reid Avenue.
A special service was held in the Chapel on 1st June morning, to bless the 1XV team for the 75th Bradby Shield Encounter. The service was attended by the team members, coaching staff, administrative staff, members of the OBA and few other old boys.
The Chief guest for this momentous occasion was Mr Micheal de Alwis. He is the brother of former Trinity Principal Leonard de Alwis. Mr De Alwis is a well known name in Trinity rugby, as he was a great rugby player in his time. He played for Trinity in 1956, 57 and 58, and he also captained Sri Lanka in 1967.
The boys from both school came in their College colours to support their brothers on the field.
The Royalists kicked off proceedings. Trinity started off in great fashion as they opened the scoring early on. Trinity put pressure on the Royal fly- half who kicked the ball right into the hands of center Tevin Karunanayake who dived over for the first points of the game. Miranga Subasinghe missed the conversion as Trinity led early on. (5-0)
Royal replied right back with a try through their skipper Thulaib Hassan, who barged his way over after Trinity spilled the ball forward. Royalist Dulan Gunawardene’s kick went astray as the scores were equal (5-5).
Royal struck again with another 5 pointer on the far corner after they worked the ball to the corner after spotting a gap. Gunawardene picked up the extras as Royal led 5-12.
Royal extended their lead a few minutes later through a well struck penalty kick. Royal led 5-15.
Trinity came back into the game at the stroke of half-time with a try from their vice captain Dhiren Rathwatte who touched down after bumping past two Royal defenders. Miranga Subasinghe’s kicked over the crucial conversion as Royal led at lemons 12-15.
Half Time: Trinity 12 (2T,1C) vs Royal 15 (2T,1C,1P)
Trinity started the second from where they had left off. An absolutely beautiful set piece move saw Harsha Samarasinghe run a great line before scoring a great try. Samarasinghe stepped his way past a couple of defenders before putting his foot on the gas to run past the last Royal defender. This try was arguably the best try of the season from the Trinitians so far. Subasinghe missed the conversion as Trinity took the lead once again. (17-15)
Royal struck back minutes later with a try from Lehan Gunarathne after a few phases of play. The Royal converter missed the kick as Royal were back in the lead. (17-20)
It was all Royal from then on as Lehan Gunarathne went over the whitewash for his second try. Maleesha Perera added extras as Royal extended their lead to 10 points. (17-27)
Royal put the final nail in the coffin in their trademark fashion – a well set Royal “rolling maul” saw them score their fifth try of the game. Perera added the extras.
Trinity did try to cut the deficit in the last few minutes but failed to do so as referee Aaqil Jamaldeen blew the long whistle.
Full Time: Trinity 17 (3T,1C) vs Royal 34 (5T,3C,1P)
Trinity have their work cut out if they want to win back the Bradby. Trinitians hope for comeback in the second leg, like under Murad Ramzeen in 2011 where Trinity hammered the Royalist 40-5.
U 16 Friendly Game
Although the senior game went in Royals favour, the young Trinitians played a good first half to beat their rivals in the Under 16 clash. Trinity won the game after a tightly contested game. (5-0)
C.E Simithraaratchy Trophy (U18)
The Trinity Under 18 team thumped the Royalist 26-5 in their trophy game as the team will take a lead of 21 points going into the second leg.
Royal and Trinity will come up against each other once again on the 15th of June at the Royal Complex to determine who will take the 75th Bradby Shield.
Review by Abidh Jameel
The Traditional Team Dinner
The traditional team dinner was held at Earls Regency this year soon after the match. This helped the boys from both schools to get to know each other. The dinner was attended by the Principals, 1Xv and U18 teams, coaching staff of both the schools along with the match referees.
