Trinity College clinched an absolute thriller against Royal College 17-16 in a game which went down to the wire at Royal Complex yesterday (24) at the 1st Leg of the 78th Bradby Shield. The all important 2nd Leg decider will be played on 7 September at Pallekele.
Shan Althaf will be a well-marked man in the decider after his scintillating kicking show.
Royal Captain in 1985 Chiranjaya Nanayakkara was the Chief Guest, with Trinity playing sans their skipper Anuhas Kodithuwakku, while Thisanga Dissanayake acted as Captain for the Lions. Thivain Perera’s Royal Tuskers had high expectations as the title holders since 2015 whilst the Trinity camp had been yearning for the Shield since 2014.
Springbok referee Jako De had a free-flowing game with absolute control as well as very few stoppages, and explained his way through the lads very precisely. Clement Isack and Aqeel Jamaldeen were the two Assistant Referees.
No officials from the Sri Lanka Society of Rugby Football Referees (SLSRFR) were involved in the game as all referees were flown from abroad.
In the 10th minute, Idris Farouk scored the opening points of the 78th Bradby with a penalty. Trinity winger Udeesha Ratnayake had some brilliant breakaway moves at the start.
The 13th minute saw Shan Althaf equalise for Trinity with an easy penalty (RC 3-3 TCK).
In the 17th minute, absolute brilliance from Althaf saw winger Murad Raizan collecting a peach of a cross kick to score in the left flank. Althaf missed the conversion by a whisker (TCK 8-3 RC).
In the 21st minute, Farouk slotted another penalty to make it a 2-point game (RC 6-8 TCK).
The 25th minute saw a try for Royal’s Fahad Nazar with good supporting work from Nabeel Yahiya to score under the posts, with Farouk making no mistake with the extras (RC 13-8).
In the 33rd minute, Farouk opted for a courageous 40 m drop goal; however, he missed it with advantage played for Royal. Royal opted for their ever-famous rolling maul in the left corner of the complex with Trinity successfully defending to go into lemons after a free-flowing opening half.
Half-time: Royal 13-8 Trinity
Trinity started off the second essay with a high-tempo attacking style and got an early kickable penalty with stand-in skipper Dissanayake opting for a scrum 10 m away from the try line. The visitors could not score as they kicked the ball away in the process.
In the 41st minute, Althaf opted for a 40 m penalty with a slight angle and bisected the post with loud roars coming from Trinity fans to yet again make it a 2-point game (TCK 11-13 RC).
In the 49th minute skipper Thisanga Dissanayake rightfully pointed at the posts to give Althaf a chance at an almost 50 m penalty, with the starboy for Trinity slotting over a monstrous kick (the toughest kick of the day) to take a slender lead (TCK 14-13 RC).
The 55th min saw an absolute change of pace as Royal fluffed the ball and the TCK winger pounced on the chance to be halted with the try line in smelling range.
Trinity yet again did not go for the easy 3-pointer and opted for touch. Royal defended their hearts out to keep Trinity away from scoring.
In the 60th minute, Althaf became the superhero for Trinity as he slotted in the best drop goal of the season 40 m out (TCK 17-13 RC).
The 63rd minute saw Farouk’s 22 m penalty making it 16-17, with the game going down to the wire. However, to the naked eye and for many onlookers, the kick did not bisect the posts.
In the 65th min, Althaf missed a penalty from the left flank.
Trinity’s last Bradby win at the complex came in 2019 and their last win (league) came in 2022.
Full-time: Trinity beat Royal 17-16
PHOTOS VENURA CHANDRAMALITHA