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Second leg of the 58th Bradby Shield
Royal going for the kill
By Aubrey Kuruppu
"And how can man die better: Than facing fearful odds. For the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods." American Caryl Chessman may have had the kind of feelings that Trinity's ruggerites are currently having, while he was in Death Row awaiting execution.

Whipped, thrashed and humbled 39-0 in the first leg of the 58th Bradby Shield encounter, the Trinitians surely cannot be working forward to the next, inevitable meeting with the boys in blue and gold. They have a mountain to climb, insurmountable odds to face and a set of seeming invicibles to overcome.

Trinity was wallowing in the depths of despair after losses in their first four games. All of a sudden, they raised their game, played more like the Trinity teams of old and fashioned a smashing 36-6 triumph over the Thomians. At that stage there seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel. Not for long, though, the momentum could not be maintained.

Full to the brim almost with senior players, the Royalists ran amok with first leg. Their skills were superior and importantly, they did the basic things well. The lines out may have been shared but on the whole, Royalists had more possession. The formidable, menacing back division , was not slow in capitalising. One of Trinity's weak links was the full back who was caught out of position on many an occasion.

He has fitted into a few positions in the course of the season but when it mattered most, he was found wanting.

Royal's experiment with Rasheed wasn't a roaring success and he was replaced by Yusoof in the second half. Other than for that little chink, the Royalists seem a throughly well-prepared and suitably drilled unit. Centre Jayasundara ran in a couple of tries, while Danawansa had a productive outing. Others such as Lewke, Atukorale, fly half Perera, winger Dissanaike and center Wijewardena enjoyed themselves against slightly perplexed opposition.

Trinity has to regroup, but how? For a start, they could look to their strengths and set how best they could be made use of. Winning back the Bradby is a fond hope. They kissed good-bye to whatever chance they had by conceding 39 points in the first leg.

The Trinitians are the recipients and beneficiaries of a proud rugby tradition. This demand that the lads from Kandy rise phoenix-like from the Ashes of defeat and play atleast for pride, second time round. The fact that they are on home turf could work in their favour.

The onus is on the Trinitans. Do they hoist the white flag or go down with all guns blazing. The omens are not propitious. However, Trinity, " Respice Finem"

Annual Travel Trade cricket on July 27 and 28
By M.Shamil Amit
The annual cricket tournament of the Travel Trade Sports Club will get underway on July 27 and 28 at the FTZ grounds in Katunayake. The tournament is being sponsored by The Taj Airport Garden Hotel, (AGH) Seeduwa.

The tournament is the 26th in the series with eighteen teams fighting for honours. Sales Manager of AGH Ashok Fernando speaking at a press conference held at the AGH in Seeduwa said that this is the first time that the AGH is sponsoring this tournament.

He further said that this is the seventh event in the sports calendar of the Travel Trade Sports Club (TTSC) having already completed the bowling, badminton, volleyball, soccer, netball and softball cricket tournaments, with six more events, athletics, tennis, beach rugby, swimming, motor car rally, beach volleyball and basketball to be worked off.

General Manager of AGH Nirmo Thambapillai speaking to the media said that when the Travel Trade SC was formed way back in 1976 it had only six teams and he was the Vice President that year. He had to step down from sports administration due to commitments abroad and was happy to note that it has expanded to over 30 teams.

Another new feature in this tournament is that for the first time it will be played on turf.

Ratmalana 'A' Deaf School clinches Caltex trophy
What a lovely day it turned out to be at the De Soysa in Moratuwa when the less priveledged children had a full days fun. This is a day the children of all Deaf Schools around the island will remember for the rest of their life. Five deaf schools from Ratmalana, Tangalle, Kurunegala, Matara and Thihariya which put out nine teams got on to the field to display their talent at cricket.

All this was possible due to the sponsorship given to the Deaf Schools Past Pupils Association (DSPPA) by Caltex Lubricants Lanka Ltd who have come forward in sponsoring sports activities of DSPPA for the next three years.

True sportsmanship was evident all over with all the children who participated being familiar with the rules of cricket. A team was allowed to bat only five overs. Tangalle 'A' had the honour of scoring the highest when they cracked 74 runs in their allotted 5 overs. The highest individual score was by the skipper Madeep Padmakumara of the Ratmalana 'A' team hitting 36 runs.

Tangalle 'A', Tangalle 'B', Ratmalana 'A' and Ratmalana 'B' qualified to meet in the semi finals. In the first semi final Tangalle 'A' overcame their 'B' team and Ratmalana 'A' defeated their 'B' team. The final between Ratmalana 'A' and Tangalle was won by Ratmalana 'A'. Chasing a score of 40 and helped by a solid knock of 36 by skipper Padmakumara won the game with ease. The best batsman and bowlers prize went to Anura Prabath of Tangalle. - MSA

Well done Kandy! but no excuses for CR
Police Vs Navy (Police won 17-10)
A grand game by the Navy. They led the Police by 7 pts(1 Goal) to 6 (2 Penalties) at half-time. The Police may have been over-confident, underestimating the Navy. The Police are now one of the best teams in the Tournament and are presently placed No. 3 behind Kandy Sports and CR. This performance is all the more creditable since the Navy was not at full strength after having sustained injuries in the Air Force game. Many missed opportunities for the Navy who could have scored two more certain tries. The Police however also had their chances of adding more points but failed due to poor handling.

Army Vs OZSC (Army won 114-8)
A resounding win for the Army who are now in Top Gear. The 2nd round should be very close where results are concerned.

Havelocks Vs Kandy Youth (Havelocks won 38-14)
A good win for Havelocks who are in the process of team building. A team who we still have to see playing at their full potential.

Galle RFC Vs CH & FC (CH&FC won 96-0)
Once again a one-sided game with the bonus points enabling the CH to retain 5th position.

KANDY SC Vs CR & FC (KANDY WON 31-17)
Well done Kandy. A great victory. NO EXCUSES FOR CR. CR lost and the better team won. That Nalaka Weerakkody played a key role in Kandy's victory is not a fair statement. It was a TEAM EFFORT.

Nalaka would not have scored if Kandy did not win the possession they had. CR lost well - they were good losers. For Kandy Indrajith Bandaranayake also impressed. For the CR, young Kaluarachchi played a mature game and was outstanding in attack and defence.

Nokia promotes Golf at Ridgeways
Nokia step into the Golf scene with a lavish promotion through an exciting Golf tournament at the Ridgeways of the Royal Colombo Golf Club on Saturday. The Stableford competition will be split into 3 divisions with the Seniors added to make the event more colourful.

Impressive NOKIA established only 12 months ago is getting strongly entrenched into an elite group of high end-users and the prospects will stretch wider and more successful with this promotion and tournament which will attract at least 12 dozen competitors. Sri Lankan Airlines have happily agreed to assist in the promotion and there is promise that Airline Tickets to attractive destinations will be on offer. A posh Cocktail Party will precede the Award Ceremony just after sunset. - Tita Nathaniels

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