Last week's 'Bradby' one of the most exciting games ever played

Last weekend's 71st Bradby Shield first leg encounter in Kandy turned out to be one of the most exciting games ever played in local rugby history.

Such rating was given not only because the two teams - Royal and Trinity were separated by a solitary point but also due the keenly contested tussle at the middle, the quality of rugby that was dished out, the true spirit in which the game was played and discipline that the two teams maintained.

Undoubtedly, Royal, with their heavy and mobile pack, were the pre-match favourites although the two teams had registered four wins each this season in their lead up to the big 'un. That too was evident in the first 19 minutes of the game as Royal 'eight' stormed in to Trinity territory with some threatening moves.

Unfortunately, they failed to put finishing touches to any of those moves as the Trinity defence stood firm. If not for the rock-solid defence of the Lions, Royal would have emerged victorious by a comfortable margin. Trinity players were intelligent in defence and made some well-calculated tackles to halt some speedy moves by Royal.

At the end of an exciting 80 minutes of play, which kept the spectators on the edges of their seats most of the time, Royal emerged victorious by 23 points (one goal, two tries, two penalties) to 22 (two goals, one try, one penalty). But it was Trinity who lead 12-10 at the short whistle of referee Dinka Peiris, who controlled the game well.

Nevertheless, the final score does not give any indication on the dominance the Reid Avenue boys have had. They won plenty of good ball but often wasted those numerous opportunities that had come their way. Royal 'line' looked unimpressive at crucial moments, with their three quarters failing to oblige even with simple passes.

Had they concentrated more on forwards' play, they would have returned to Colombo with a handsome lead. Full credit must go to the Royal 'eight' which dominated in set pieces. They won most of the line outs even when the throw in were by Trinity.

Bhanuka Gamage and his boys dominated in set pieces as well as in loose play. They spent a major portion of the playing time in the Trinity '22' but lacked ability to turn those efforts into points. Royal failed to make use of the good ball intelligently. They wasted the efforts of their forwards without relying more faith on their far superior pack.

In contrast, Trinity made use of the few opportunities that came their way. Each time they came to Royal '22' and got the ball, they were successful in scoring. Royal defenders could not bring down those attacking Trinity 'threes' and lacked technique in their tackles.

Despite winning the game by only a solitary point, Royal dominated play, winning most of the line outs and the scrums. Even their loose play was outstanding. Had Royal made full use of the dominance they have had early in the game, they would have scored at least two to three tries. It would have given a morale booster for Royal and the final outcome of the game would have been different.

Although Royal had full control to spend almost the entire first 20 minutes in the Trinity territory, it was the hill capital school team which made the first blood after a Trinity lineout jumpers tapped the ball to send scrum half Anuk Boyagoda through the Royal defence to score mid-left. Thisila Perera's neat conversion gave Trinity an early 7-nil lead by the 20th minute.

Despite Royal reducing the deficit with a penalty, Trinity scored their second try a few minutes later when lock forward Rahul Karunatilleke intercepted a pass to make a breezy run to touch down. Royal fought back to score their first try of the match before the half time when their captain Gamage collected the ball from centre Akash Iddamalgoda to make a spectacular dash to score under the post.

Royal stormed into the game early in the second half with successive tries. When the second half was only 35 second old, winger Mahinda Gamage broke Trinity's defence to make it 15-12. That was the first time that Royal took the lead after 41 minutes of play, proving all pre-match predictions wrong. Six minutes later, Royal's winger Shalika Feroze scored far left.

It appeared that the Reid Avenue boys would end the game with a sizable lead as another penalty by Ovin Askey gave Royal a good 23-12 by the 14th minute of the second half. But Royal failed to maintain the same rhythm after a point-a-minute harvest in the first 14 minutes after 'lemons'.

The Trinity Lions woke up immediately and looked ferocious in the next 20 minutes of play, crossing the Royal line once again after a penalty by Thisila Perera had reduced Royal's lead to 23-15.

Winger Saranga Gunatilleke touched down near the post and full back Thisila Perera added the extra points to make it 22-23 by the 27th minute of the second half. Royal made desperate attempts to extend their lead in the last ten minutes of the game but once again, Trinity put premature ends to all those moves. They brilliantly kept Royal backs in check to make sure that they come to Colombo for the second leg next Saturday (23) with a deficit only a point.

As expected, it was a keen tussle for supremacy as the two unbeaten teams clashed before a packed Trinity Rugby Stadium in Pallekele. Royal forwards, despite winning plenty of good ball, failed to score a single try. Although the Royal forwards fed their 'line' more often, they lacked power to make penetrative moves and were even untidy with their passes.

Apart from a die-hard Royalist or a Trinitian, none of the spectators present was able to determine which the better team was. It was such a rare treat of fast and open rugby that could only be witnessed in the Bradby Shield series which has a proud history since 1945. But the Royal-Trinity inter-school rugby history goes back to 1920 before the introduction of the Bradby Shield by the then Royal Principal the late E.L. Bradby in 1945 to make it a two-leg affair.

All in all, last weekend's match was the 140th game played between the two schools since 1920. Trinity still takes the lead with 66 wins while Royal had emerged victorious on 63 occasions with 11 drawn games.

It will be interesting to see whether Royal could be able to make use of their home conditions to capitalize on that morale-boosting victory at Pallekele when they scrum down with Trinity in the 'return' leg to be played at Royal Sports Complex, Race Course on Saturday (23).

Whatever the outcome may be, one thing is certain - that the eventual winner would be rugby as the two teams will once again dish out some exciting and entertaining rugby.