Royal College have cleared their first hurdle in their attempt to retain the Bradby Shield for the fourth successive year. Last week, they dished out some fantastic all-round rugby to demolish their traditional rivals Trinity College 29-0 in the first leg encounter played at the Royal Sports Complex in Reid Avenue.
This outstanding performance by Royal has almost put the issue beyond doubt for another Bradby triumph and they will be even more confident when they face the same opponents in the second leg fixture at the Pallekele Stadium in two weeks’ time.
Royal, not only produced a clinical performance but they have also dealt a severe psychological blow on their opponents as Trinity will need a huge turnaround and win the second leg by a massive margin to have any hopes of a comeback.
| Action from the match between Royal and Trinity |
This was a crunch game that really tested Royal’s nerves and their character and eventually, they came out with blazing guns firing all cylinders when it really mattered for the side.
Four splendid tries, three conversions and a penalty simply summarised all their hard work and 70 minutes of sheer dominance as they carried the same momentum, which they unleashed during the ‘A’ Division League Tournament.
There was nothing that could have prevented this Royal team from dominating the Bradby first leg and even with 13-men they surprised the opposition and produced a magnificent try, which showed their class and determination on the field.
Trinity, of course, were playing catch up rugby for a better part of the game and they only had the chance of reducing the margin but even that they completely failed as they squandered at least three penalties.
The other factor that really frustrated the Trinitians was Royal’s solid defence and the patienceas the home side produced some ferocious tackles and excellent spoiling work to complete a memorable victory in the end. There were several occasions where Trinity invaded the Royal ‘22’ with great hopes of a breakthrough but all their hard work was dashed and had to return without putting any points on the scoreboard.
In contrast, Royal always ensured they added some points on the scoreboard whenever they came into their opponent’s territory, which in fact became a routine with their famous rolling maul, pick-up and dummy passes causing severe damage to the Trinity defence.
S. Thomas’ vs St. Peter’s
Meanwhile, S. Thomas’ College eventually were able to win a piece of silverware this season as they retained the Archibald Perera Memorial Trophy by pulling off a thrilling 23-22 win against St. Peter’s College at Bambalapitiya.
In a high-scoring game, the Thomians ran down four superb tries during a tremendous first-half performance and then held on determinedly in the second half to thwart the home side with some good defensive play.
In fact, S. Thomas’ grabbed every opportunity during the first 35 minutes of play to build up a crucial lead of 20-14 and thereafter, they simply piled up pressure on the Peterites, who were guilty of committing several mistakes and handling errors.
Altogether, it was not the ideal day for St. Peter’s, who continued with their miserable journey in the current season having recorded just a solitary win in the ‘A’ Division League Tournament.