Royal’s rollers grind Trinity in lopsided Bradby | Sunday Observer

Royal’s rollers grind Trinity in lopsided Bradby

21 August, 2022
Royal College scrum half Kaveen Sasanga attempts to stave off a tackle from a Trinity College defender in the first leg of the Bradby Shield rugby encounter at the Royal Sports Complex ground in Colombo (Pic by Chinthaka Kumarasinghe)
Royal College scrum half Kaveen Sasanga attempts to stave off a tackle from a Trinity College defender in the first leg of the Bradby Shield rugby encounter at the Royal Sports Complex ground in Colombo (Pic by Chinthaka Kumarasinghe)

Two spectacular tries scored by Royal College hero of the day hooker cum iron man Navin Perera helped Royal to record a stunning win over Trinity College by 29 points (4 tries, 3 conversions, 1 penalty) to nil in their 76th Bradby Shield first leg encounter played at Royal Sports Complex yesterday.

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. But 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 to their opponents as Trinity collapsed to the immense pressure applied by 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 throughout the match.

Trinity, played well 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 the head coach Dushanth Lewke and assisted by ex Sri Lanka national Sevens and fifteen a side captain Radhika Hettiarachchi 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 hooker Navin Perera as his loose play as a forward was entirely a class act. He also controlled the phase of the game brilliantly through his set of forwards.

Royal broke the ‘ice’ in the 15th minute of the game and went into a 3-0 lead when winger Nabil Yehiya put over a difficult 40 metre penalty.

Royal increased their lead to 10-0l in the 24th minute of the game when prop Shenal Adikaram powered his way and dived over to touch down for a try and full back Nabil Yehiya made the difficult conversion.

In the 60th minute of the second half hooker Navin Perera dived over on the back of a fantastic rolling maul and Yehiya slotted in the conversion to increase Royal’s lead to 17-0.

Royal scored again through their hero of the day Perera whose second try of the game through another driving maul in the 66th minute. Yehiya missed the dificult conversion but went into a further lead of 22 points.

With pressure mounting on Trinity, Royal added more misery on the hill capital boys and sealed the game in the 72nd minute, when their granite forward Dineth Gamage breezed past the try line to touch down for an exceptional solo try off a beautiful driving maul.

Yehiya slotted in the difficult conversion and Royal went into an unbeatable 29-0.

Incidentally Royal College 1983 captain Sriyan Cooray was the Chief Guest

Referee Ishanka Abayakoon controlled the game well.

Comments