Royal College secures victory at the 1st Leg of the Bradby Shield

The sky above the Royal College Sports Complex grew darker as the moment, much awaited by the 1st XV Rugby Teams of Royal and their age old rivals from the hills, finally dawned on the 30th of April. The Bradby Shield Encounter, arguably the biggest rugby match that Sri Lanka boasts about, was graced by Rt. Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe and Mr. Rohantha Peiris as the Chief Guest. In addition to these highly respected gentlemen, the highest capped Australian ruggerite and influential skipper, George Gregan honoured the match with his presence. With the formalities completed, the stage was set for a battle of epic proportions.

 In just over 20 seconds a surprise interception by Janidu Dilshan led Royal College to their first try of the game. This went down in history as the fastest try of the series. Royal’s star kicker Ovin Askey added the extras setting the score at 7-0. After close to 15 minutes Trinity made the much needed breakthrough as they secured their first try to tie the scores at 7 – 7. However Trinity’s hopes were short-lived as Ovin Askey converted a penalty from just over 22 metres out, regaining the lead and setting the score at 10 – 7. With about 10 minutes left to the end of the 1st half Royal College gave the boys from Kandy a taste of the infamous ‘Royal Maul’, which resulted in hooker Azmir Fajudeen going over the line to score Royal’s second. Ovin Askey made no mistake in the conversion bringing the score up to 17 – 7 before halftime.

 Trinity’s acting skipper was substituted at the start of the second half which proved to be a wise decision as they scored a penalty to bring the score to 17 – 10. Despite the attempt by the Royal defence, Trinity College was awarded their second try by the Television Match Official (TMO), used for the first time in any Sri Lankan Rugby encounter.

Three minutes left to the conclusion of the otherwise undecided game, Royal College once again executed a successful Maul giving Azmir Fajudeen the honour of yet another try, sealing victory for the home team. Fans in Blue and Gold flooded the grounds with hopes of yet another victory at Pallekale on the 14th of May. In addition to winning the Leg, Royal College also managed to finish off at 2nd place in Division 1A of the Singer Schools Rugby League.

Match Summary

Final Score: RC 22 (3T, 2C, 1P) – 17 (2T 2C 1P) TCK

RC Tries: Azmir Fajudeen – 2, Janidu Dilshan – 1

RC Conversions: Ovin Askey – 2

RC Penalties: Ovin Askey – 1