Two spectacular tries scored by Royal College hero of the day prop forward cum iron man Himantha Hirushan helped Royal to record a stunning win over Trinity College by 13 points ( 2 tries, 1 penalty) to 8 ( 1 try, 1 penalty) in the73rd Bradby Shield second leg encounter played at Royal Sports Complex at Stanley Wijesundera Mawatha yesterday. At ‘lemons’ scores were on even keel at 3 all.
With this superb win Royal retained the Bradby Shield for the third consecutive year which is offered for this annual encounter.
A thrilling encounter was on the cards before the commencement of the match and also a ‘surprise’ was expected from the Trinity outfit to pull off the game in their favour. Bit it was exactly the opposite which occurred as the entire Royal forwards fought like a bunch of terriers in the second half giving no chance whatsoever for their opponents as Trinity collapsed
to the immense pressure applied by the the Royal forwards.
The lads from Reid Avenue produced a spectacular brand of rugby through their indomitable set of forwards who ultimately brought victory for them. They dominated the set pieces, scrums, line outs rucks and mauls with their fabulous lose play through out the match. Trinity, played well to draw level 3 all in the first half but could not maintain the same form which they displayed earlier and caved in meekly. Royal forwards under the guidance of Sanath Martis the head coach and assisted by Dushanth Lewke had done their part to perfection by using different tactics to penetrate the Trinity defence in the second half.
The man who made the difference was undoubtedly Royal’s front row forward Himantha Hirushan, his lose play as a forward was entirely a class act. He also controlled the phase of the game brilliantly through his set of forwards.
Trinity broke the ‘ice’ in the fifth minute of the game and went in to a 3 nil lead when fly half Lashane Wijesuriya put over a simple 20 metre penalty .Then in the 23rd minute of play Royal equalled the score to 3 all, when full back Shakir Naufer slotted in a 35 metre penalty.
The score remained 3 all at the breather.
In the beginning of the second half Royal increased their lead to 8-3 in the 46th minute of the game when prop forward Himantha Hirushan powered his way and dived over to touch down for a try and full back Naufer missed the difficult conversion.
With pressure mounting on the Trinity lions, Royal added more misery on the hill capital boys and sealed the game in the 50th minute, when their hero of the day Hirushan breezed pass the try line to touch down for a try off a beautiful rolling maul. Naufer missed the difficult conversion when his kick struck the left upright. Royal further increased the lead to 13-3. During the closing stages of the game in the 77th minute of play, Trinity prop forward Aveesha Priyankara crashed through for a consolation try with fly half Akitha Sakalasuriya missing the conversion to cut down the lead to 13-8 in favour of Royal.
It was a resounding win for the Royal who won the match against all odds by 13 points to 8, having a total aggregate of 35-25 in the end.
Insidentally Royal college victorious captain Ovin Askey received the prestigous Bradby Shield from the chief guest and 1980 Royal Bradby winning captain Subramanium Sujanthakumar. Sujanthakumar also handed over the C. E.Simitharachchi trophy to the winning Royal College junior team captain. .
Referee - Rohan Fernando controlled the game well.