Trinity College Kandy continued their wonderful form in the Bradby Shield to record an emphatic 28-16 victory in the first leg at the Royal Sports Complex which has become a happy hunting ground for the visiting Lions.
The inspiring Tarinda Ratwatte led his team to this victory with a swashbuckling performance while the Royalists found solace in their captain Nimshan Jayawardene whose name was omnipresent in the scoresheet for the home side.
The blue ribbon of schools rugby was to take center stage once again. This years Bradby Shield marked a glorious 70 years of unparalleled rivalry between the hallowed institutions of Royal College and Trinity College. After both teams having very similar runs in the Singer schools league where these two teams suffered defeats at the hands of Isipathana College this encounter was deemed to be an extremely close one.
Trinity began proceedings through their captain Tarinda Ratwatte’s kick off. It took the Trinitians no less than 4 minutes to break the shackles when their speedy winger Lochana Giriyagama intercepted Ashok Wijekumars floated pass with great precision and skill to dash a good 80 meters in order to cross the paint and score the first try for the lions. Tarinda Ratwatte added the extras with ease in order to take the visiting team into a crucial 7-0 lead.
No less than three minutes later a Trinity player was penalised for entering the ruck off his feet which resulted in a penalty that was within the kicking range for Nimshan Jayawardena. The captain of the home side made no mistake as he slotted the ball through the uprights in order to put the Royalists back in the game.
Score- Trinity 07 Royal 03
Trinity then managed to consolidate their lead through Sanchana Shiek who burst through the left flank to score. It was Ratwatte who orchestrated the move after passing the ball to the line and creating an overlap to allow Shiek to utilize the necessary space and finish a beautiful move by the Trinitians. Ratwatte added the extra points once again.
Score- Trinity 14 Royal 03
Ratwatte who had a hundred percent kicking record so far missed a simple penalty which was well within his reach considering his high standards.
However, he redeemed himself in the 24th minute when the Royalists gifted a simple penalty after a 5m lineout to the home team as the visitors turned the ball over and pressured the home team into making a basic error which cost the Reid Avenue boys three points.
Score- Trinity 17 Royal 03
In what followed Nimshan attempted a long range penalty that the Trinitians conceded just inside the 50 meter mark. Nimshans ambitious attempt at goal fell short as the Royalists failed to cut the deficit.
The Trinitians who looked like they were in a strong position to finish the first half on a high were caught unawares by a sweeping attack by the Royalists. The Royalists who had been applying pressure on the visitors continuously for a period of close to 5 minutes secured their breakthrough in the 39th minute when Gayal Jayasinghes long pass on the blind side found the safe hands of the captain Nimshan who scored under the uprights. He went onto add the points in order to give the Royal fans a glimmer of hope.
Royal added three more points immediately after as their talismanic captain Nimshan booted a simple penalty on the stroke of half time to give the home team the momentum going into the break.
Half Time – Trinity 17 Royal 13
Royal capitalized on the momentum they created towards the end of the first half in order to win a penalty right after the restart which was placed through the uprights with ease by none other than Nimshan to cut the deficit to just one point.
Score- Trinity 17 Royal 16
With the tide turning against the visitors and the Reid Avenue boys closing the gap, Trinity struck back strongly with a cleverly executed drop goal by skipper Tarinda Ratwatte which took the Linos to a four point lead.
Score- Trinity 20 Royal 16
The reliable Ratwatte had his kicking boots on as he struck another penalty increase the lead for Trinity.
Score- Trinity 23 Royal 16
The Trinitians went on to add salt into the Royalists wounds when they scored yet another supreme try through the means of a wonderful counterattack. The move began when the Trinity defense charged down the replacement fly half Jamaldeens attempted clearance kick. Nimshan who collected the loose ball attempted to clear, however his kick was caught cleanly by a Trinitian winger who worked the ball to the devastating Trinity line. They used their quick hands and untouchable speed in order to stretch the tired Royalists to the left. Sheik sped up the left flank and passed the ball back inside to Sachintha Dissanayake who collected the ball cleanly to score a well deserved try for the boys from Kandy. The conversion which followed was missed as referee Dimitri called the game to a close.
Full Time- Trinity 28(3T,2C,1DG,2P)Royal 16(1T,1C,3P)
Speaking to ThePapare.com Tarinda Ratwatte mentioned that he expects better from his team in the second leg as he wasn’t happy with the execution of the game plan. However, he was extremely happy with the final result and gave credit to the Royalists for a good game.
The Trinitians will take an all important 12 point lead into the second leg which is to be played at Pallekele on the 24th of May 2014.
Key Statistics:
Trinity have let the Royalists stage a comeback only on two occasions – in 1979 and 1998.
Pallekele has been a stronghold for the Lions in the past two years, with them achieving resounding victories with scorelines of 37-25(2013) and 36-20(2012).
Trinity Man Of The Match – Tarinda Ratwatte
Royal Man of The Match – Gayal Jayasinghe
