Royal 25 – 37 Trinity. While many may have expected Trinity to take the game at Pallekele, it was by no means an easy task. The 12 point lead that Trinity College, Kandy gained at the 159th Royal – Trinity Rugby Encounter did not look to be the end result at half time. The Royal camp will feel like the a first leg advantage slipped through their fingers, but the Royal College First XV will give no excuses this 15th of June at the revamped Royal College Sports Complex as they battle it out to decide which School’s Rugby giant reigns supreme for the year 2013. Trinity also took both the Under 16 & Under 18 games, so more than one Royal team will be looking to taste revenge in two weeks time.

Click on the lint to view the complete album – 69th Bradby Shield Encounter

The game started well for Trinity, getting the first points on the board just three minutes into the game through a penalty. But the early blow for Royal did not seem to have much of an effect as Royal kept the pressure on Trinity, who seemed to be making many mistakes. Royal’s perseverance paid off twenty minutes in as Royal scored to make it 5 – 3 in favour of the visitors. Five minutes later, a horrendous mistake at the 5m line by fresher Akash Iddawela gave way to a simple opportunity to Trinity. Trinity were unable to convert, leaving the scores at 5 – 8 in favour of the hosts. Thirty two minutes in and Royal seemed to need a change, as Vice Captain Shuayb Muthalip entered the scene. His entrance seemed to have an immediate impact on the game as some persistent offensive play made way for a magical try by the Skipper Rimze Jamaldeen. The conversion was handed over to Devin de Silva, and he aced the kick putting Royal back into the lead at 12 – 8 at 35 minutes. As the first half was coming to an end, two more penalties came the way of Royal, with the latter resulting in a warning for the Trinity no. 8, who’s late charge onto Rimze following his clearance left the Royal Captain on the floor. Nonetheless, Rimze was up and taking the penalty, which was an absolute beauty of a kick, curving slightly to the left to sneak past the right post to end the first half 18 – 8 in favour of the boys in Blue & Gold.

Royal would have looked to dominate the second half from the very beginning, but once again, Trinity managed to score in three minutes after Udesh Eranda’s yellow card 25 seconds into the game as a result of an impressive tackle, which went a little too far as the Trinity player who was tackled was swept clean off his feet and landed neck first onto the floor gave way to another Trinity try. Kicking was certainly not Trinity’s strong suit of the day as they missed out on another conversion. This incident saw a momentum shift in Trinity’s favour, as a offensive move that was being held back well ended with a drop goal for Trinity, which made the scores 18 – 16 to Trininty. By the twentieth minute, Trinity managed to score twice but are unable to convert on both occasions, making the score 18 – 26. This was followed by the only occasion in which Royal made it past the trinity 22m line. A drop goal effort by Rimze misses the mark, but Royal recover fast through good team offence, pushing the Trinty pack step by step to mark another try by Royal. The score was now 25 – 26 and the game was getting increasingly interesting. Trinity realized the pressure was on and paced up their game, resulting in successful penalties at the 29 and 32 minute marks. With time against Royal, a win looked out of reach but a draw seemed possible as Royal made their final offensive play but could not capitalize. The move left the Boys in Blue & Gold vulnerable and Trinity dealt the killer blow with the final play of the game to make it 25 – 37.

Captain Rimze Jamaldeen took a hefty beating throughout the game and left Pallekele with a concussion. The entire Royal camp wishes him a speedy recovery as his presence in the side has proved to be extremely vital. As the team leave this game behind and shift focus to the next game against League leaders Dharmaraja College, Kandy, much work will be needed to be put in to condition the team mentally to bounce back after a game where the team went all out. The team probably face the three toughest games of the season with the second leg of the Bradby Shield Encounter and the Division B leaders S. Thomas’ College who have been exceptional are to follow this week. Royalists young & old, present & past will continue to back our team, inspired by the tremendous performance put on at Pallekele. We wish the team the best of luck and remind them to stay strong and push on!