After witnessing a true battle of wits at the Royal College Sports Complex on the 10th of May, Royal went into the the second leg to bring back the Bradby Shield against all odds, suffering a deficit of 12 points which were earned by the Trinitians by their performance in the first leg.

The result of the Bradby Shield encounter for the year 2014 only proved to be a bitter one for the Royalists, as the Trinitians regained the Shield by winning the second leg 19 points – 18 points, which amounted to a total aggregate of 47 points – 34 points in favour of the Trinitians, due to their first leg performance which saw the scoreboard reading 28 points – 16 points, also in favour of the Trinitians.

The much awaited finale of the encounter commenced with Trinity kicking off through skipper Ratwatte, after which, Trinity managed to break the ice by converting an awarded penalty which placed them three points ahead of the Royalists, giving them an early boost of momentum.

Royal however, made sure that they weren’t left out of the game, as they bounced right back by converting an awarded penalty through Skipper Nimshan Jayawardena, which leveled the scores at 03 – 03, which made it an evenly matched contest.

Giving away penalties were the let down of both teams, as Royal gave away another penalty which was promptly converted, which placed the Trinitians three points ahead of the Royalists once again, at 03 – 06, after which, the halftime whistle was blown, which was a much needed break for both sides.

After some words of encouragement from the coaches, Royal started off with a bang by leveling the scores once again through the boot of skipper Nimshan Jayawardena. Scoreboard read 06 – 06 while Royal were fighting hard to stay in contention.

Trinity however, managed to get ahead once again by converting an awarded penalty which saw the scoreboard reading 09-06 in favour of the Trinitians, but not long after that, the Royal forwards showed pure strength in one of the mauls and scored through Prop Forward Supun Warnakulasooriya. Conversion was unsuccessful, and placed the Royalists in front of the Trinitians on 11-09.

Trinity was quick in response, as a brilliant try down the wing was successfully converted by the Skipper which saw the Trinitians taking the lead once again with the score on 16 – 11. The forwards and their mauling proved to be the main highlight for the Royalists, as Prop Forward Nikila Gunadeera scored a try off a successful rolling maul, which was converted by Skipper Nimshan. The Royalists found courage and were in the lead with the scoreboard reading 18  – 16.

However it was not to be, as the Trinitians converted yet another awarded penalty which placed them ahead of the Royalists on 19 – 18, after which, the full time whistle was blown, much to the delight of the Trinitians. The aggregate of both legs were in favour of Trinity, and was 47 points to 34 points, which placed them with an advantage of 13 points which saw the Bradby Shield being retained by the Trinitians.

A valiant and heartfelt performance by the Royalists, as the effort displayed was appreciated by all fans and players alike.

The Royalists will look forward to their next game on the 31st of May against St. Peters College, which will surely prove to be an exciting game of Rugby.

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