Royal prevail

Sports

Royal prevail - 65th Bradby Shield encounter

By Aubrey Kuruppu

A Trinity player looking for a break, but the Royal defence is at hand. (Pic by Sanka Vidanagama)

Royal prevailed at Bogambara yesterday in the first leg of the 65th Bradby Shield rugby encounter when they downed Trinity 22-12.

Royal’s points were made up of a goal and three tries while Trinity’s points consisted of a goal and a try.
Trinity had their moments of glory when they gained a 7-0 lead in the 21st minute of the first session when Trinity skipper Vishwajit Wijesinghe hacked at a dropped ball from a Royal three-quarter, collected and scored to give Trinity the lead to the delight of the packed Bogambara Stadium.

The Royal defence was caught napping at this stage, to say the least. Kenon Armstrong converted to put Trinity ahead.

Earlier Trinity missed a golden opportunity when Kenon Armstrong missed a penalty in the 14th minute.
With Trinity drawing first blood the partisan crowd went into raptures of delight. They however never accounted for Royal’s unrelenting efforts. Royal scored next when flanker Asthika Bandaranayake touched down mid left which left Trinity at 7-5.

Even though Trinity made a desperate effort to score during the dying moments of the first half their efforts were thwarted by a stubborn Royal defence. Royal led 12-7 at the breather.

Royal burst into the scene on resumption when their scrum half Aquil Sadique scored mid left. The Trinity defence was caught unawares this time and Sadique made full use of this lapse to put his team further ahead. The conversion went a begging. Royal led 17-12 at this stage.

Royal used great strategy next when their skipper and fly-half Naren Dason burst through to score. The Royal pack was outstanding at this juncture as they paved the way for Dason to roll over and touch down. This was, however, not converted.

Exchanges almost even in the initial part of the game.

Royal led 22-12 at this stage which was to be the ultimate result. Trinity did their best to pull the burning embers out of the fire but Royal held too many aces and Trinity had to succumb to the defeat.

The crowds moved away happy at the brand of rugby displayed at the game. The Royalists were happy that they were able to tame the Lions in their own den and the Trinitians were hoping for a reversal when the second leg comes around in Colombo two weeks hence.

Royal are unbeaten to date and have shown superiority in the pack and the three-quarters. It will take a super human effort to make Royal eat humble pie at their home grounds on June 13.

Dilroy Fernando refereed yesterday’s game. He had tight control of it and warned Trinity on many occasions on instances of rough play.

Shafie Jainudeen, who led Trinity in 1974, was the chief guest at yesterday’s game.

Trinity had a major share of success in the junior games played earlier drubbing Royal 21-0 in the under 14 game, beating Royal 19-7 in the under 16 match and 5-0 in the under 18 game.

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