Regain Michael Gunaratne Memorial Trophy

Royal thrash Thomians 35-0

By Ranjan Anandappa

Royal regained the Michael Gunaratne Trophy which was in Thomian custody for one year when they beat their traditional rivals by 35 points (7 tries) to nil in a terribly lopsided game at the Royal College Sports Complex grounds yesterday.

It was the second biggest win in the series after the 39-0 win in 2002 under Zulki Hamid for Royal.

Royal leads in the tally of wins 22-17 with five drawn encounters.

Thomians would have given one of their worst displays in rugby as they went down without much resistance with repeated forays by Royal.The Thomians started off with a promise but simply sank into oblivion when Royal scored their try in the 23rd minute of the game.

It was the Royal forwards number eight Dharin Warnakulasuriya, fly half Bilal Hassan, Gayan Wijesinghe, and Manil Abeyreatne that made the difference. They drove intoi rucks and mauls and drove the Thomians into submission. Their forwards combined effectively with the back division and the Thomian did not have much of a chance.

Royal after their energy draining battle against Trinity in the first ‘leg’ of the Bradby Shield stuck onto their guns with a determined effort to regain the Gunaratne trophy. However, the Royalists cannot be entirely happy about their performance as they lacked a reliable place kicker.

Their full back Isuru Perera was unable to convert a single try. If he had done it the scoreline would have been much more embarrassing for the Thomians.
Royal opened scoring through their skipper Chamila Sandaruwan and thereafter it was the case of Royal crossing the Thomian line almost at will.
Royal led 15-0 at half time.

On resumption Royal went on to plant four more unconverted tries through Kavinda Weeraratne, flanker Bilal Hassan, Gayan Wijesinghe, Dhiran Warnakulasuriya, Naren Daron, Manil Abeyratne.

Referee. Priyantha Gunaratne.