Trinity College secures victory at the 2nd Leg of the Bradby Shield.

Saturday, the 14th of May, 2016 was a day for the history books. The 2nd leg of the 72 year old Bradby Shield Encounter was held at the Trinity College Rugby Stadium in Pallakele. The hill capital that had seen gloomy skies and a fair share of rain throughout the preceding days set a very muddy, yet phenomenal stage for the epic game to unfold. The chief guest for the event was Jan Tissera, a highly decorated member of the Trinitian alumni.

From the word go, the smell of determination and hunger filled the stadium as Royal fought to retain and Trinity did to regain. It was a game that was dominated by territorial gain and comprised of a lot of aerial ping-pong.  Royal got off to a fantastic start as they threatened Trinity’s try line after 1st centre Thulaib Hassen charged down and re-gathered a kick, gaining good ground in doing so. Royal was awarded a penalty roughly 35 meters from the posts and fullback Ovin Askey stepped forward to put his team in front. The successfully converted kick opened Royal’s account for the evening. Royal’s consistent pressure was converted to points as the boys from Kandy fell victim to yet another rolling maul. Prop Ayesh Maduranga crossed the line to increase Royal’s aggregate lead to 15 points after yet another successful conversion by Ovin Askey.

Trinity showed better composure from the restart as they camped themselves in Royal’s 22. The boys in blue and gold defended with passion but fell short in the dying stages of the first forty as Trinity’s 1st center took advantage of a mismatch to score Trinity’s first try. The conversion was astray and the score stood at 10 – 05 in Royal’s favour at lemons. (32 – 22 to Royal on aggregate)

The second half saw a dominant Trinity College team. Two infringements by the Royalists resulted in the Lion’s stand-off converting both the respective penalties to put his team in the lead. (10 – 11 to Trinity) The Trinitians turned up the pressure yet again and pressed Royal’s defence until they finally found a crack through which the scrum-half crossed to score a five-pointer. The conversion was successful and for the first time in both games, Trinity College led the aggregate score (32 – 35).

Realising that their title defence was in jeopardy, the spirited Tuskers mounted effort after effort to seal the deal for themselves. After an almost certain try was disallowed due to unclear video footage, the Royalists were left with a few minutes to play, and everything to play for. A thrilling finale was set when Royal College was awarded a penalty in the 79th minute of the game. The entire stadium watched in anxiety as sharpshooter, Ovin Askey stepped up and lined up his conversion. By no means was the challenge an easy one as it was just five metres inward from the touch line. Those who were there would admit that time seemed to stand still as the ball left Askey’s boot and gradually curved its way to sail smoothly through the posts. The touch judges raised their flags to acknowledge the successful conversion and the subsequent roar that erupted shook the hill country. The referee blew the long whistle and the crowd took to the grounds. History had been repeated and the 72nd Bradby Shield Encounter ended in a tie with Royal and Trinity scoring 35 points each. The Royalists retained the shield as they won it in 2015.

However, confusion at the presentation led to a pending decision with regard to the sharing of the shield; one that will be confirmed in the weeks to come.

Match Summary

Final Score: RC 13 (1T, 1C, 2P) – 18 (2T 1C 2P) TCK

RC Tries: Ayesh Maduranga – 1

RC Conversions: Ovin Askey – 1

RC Penalties: Ovin Askey – 2