Daylight seemed to be just seeping through the sulky clouds to the hill capital. Amidst the heavy Saturday traffic building up on a normal weekend routine, an array of vehicles seemed to be stationed in front of the Trinity College main enclosure equipping them with the colors of red, gold and blue.
Their expression summarized it all. A severe loss at the Bogambora stadium to the school on Reid Avenue gave them less or minute hope as they commenced their annual pilgrimage to the grounds in Colombo 7 to witness the second leg of the 67th edition of the Bradby Shield. Their hopes had been retaliated ever since the loss in the first episode as the belief they entrusted on the 15 warriors who avenged the fields of Bogambora had impoverished but the rays of hope still lied within the hearts of every Trinitian for a possible miracle. It was a daunting challenge ahead for the then skipper Murad Ramzeen and his team to ravage with the bar set high not only to win the encounter but also to evade the deficit. Little did they know that, a miracle had been buffered to be staged at the grounds that evening.
As the fanfare progressed towards Reid Avenue, the entire pathway to the stadium abundantly decorated in Blue and Gold as the Gentlemen of Royal had much to celebrate. The much celebrated Royal team lead by the dynamic Shehan Pathirane were progressing on to securing their league title after a lapse of 3-4 years and their unbeaten stint during the season was the centre of attention as most of the newspaper analysts forecasted this confrontation for Royal to be a icing on the cake to pitch their season finale on a high note.
The Trinity brigade who made the ground on that day seemed to be of a different virtue. Right from the referees kick off whistle the Lions took the home lads by surprise as they suppressed the Blue and Gold right from the start of play. The six footed Trinity Lock forward Randika Alwis started off with what his does the best as he warded off as many of the blue, gold shirts to make way for a Trinity score. That marked the beginning of an annihilation which later saw the efforts of Sashan Mohammed, Sean Foster, Kaneel Seneviratna and Dilshan Kelaniyagoda crossing over.
The Lions started off their gameplay with the sole purpose of evading a eight point deficit but incidentally it seems as they were wrecking Royal’s entire fleet. Tries coming in from all over the field left the Royalists limited to their thoughts. Amidst the one way traffic coming all the way from Kandy, the tens and thousands of the proud Royalists who gathered at the complex were witnessing the disaster on the field were left speechless as they prayed on to their respective gods to make their team win the game.
I would like to recollect and back a famed phrase from the recently concluded t20 world cup.
“I guess the Almighty wants them(Mahela and Sanga) to leave on a high,…”
Similarly on that eve “the almighty’s wish was to see Trinity winning the shield…” and no possible outward force had the power to eliminate the inevitable that day.
A synonymic idiom that runs in line with the terminology “Leader” is that a leader should lead his troops from the front end. This phase though being a figure of speech was literally prevalent in the case of Murad Ramzeen. It is seldom that we see a prop forward being given the duties of skipper and this stalwart proved himself beyond the demarcated boundaries as a leader. Ramzeen had the likes of a stupendous stand off as his deputy; Rehaan Weerakoon who stood by his skipper at all times. Weerakoon’s kicking got momentum running for the Lions’ as he kicked through very crucial conversions as well as his place kicking on that very day was beyond exception.
The Royalists pushed, shoved and triggered attacks through the field but all what they could achieve was a Shehan Lema try at the death of the second half of play. It did not suffice the mammoth 40 point stand amassed by the Lions within the 80 minutes of play
Off the field in the stands, the sense of euphoria erupted just as the first try came up on the scoreboard as the echoes of the Trinity fanfare chanting the word “T-R-I-N-I-T-Y” never stopped coming from that moment onwards. Embedded within a jam packed pavilion the Trinitians cheered their team through the entire 80 minutes. As the Papare bands played their hearts out, the Pavilions started to tremble over loud Trinity cheering. As three long blows from referee Dilroy marked the conclusion of the 67th edition, the lawn erupted with the fanfare stampede in delight of this historic win.
It was one of those moments that every Trinitian who was present on the 11th of June shall remember for decades long and goes into the books of history to be one of the greatest comebacks in the Bradby history.
With skipper Ramzeen receiving the shield to his hand, he took no delay in running up the fleet of steps to join his teammates on the top of the isle to pose for the traditional photograph to mark the ownership of the Bradby Shield. The rest is history.
The 2011 team goes down on the history books to be the “Dream Team” of the 21st century for the Lions. Skipper Murad Ramzeen joins the club of the elite captains and in my opinion to be the “Greatest Ever” produced in the 21st century so far. Significantly the 2011 win is a repetition of the initial installment of the Bradby shield in 1945 when Robert Sourjah ‘s Trinity side came back fighting in the second leg to conquer the shield.
As Trinity took the center stage on the following Sunday’s newspapers, the encounter made the Trinity arrive on a milestone where Rugby transformed to a whole new perspective from where it stood. Above all ups and downs the spirit of the sports continued to exist within these two institutions regardless what the outcome was on field.
With the 70th encounter on the corner, no outcome can be anticipated on what lies ahead. We would thus have to wait and watch what 2014 has to deliver!
