Two spectacular tries scored by Royal College hero of the day hooker cum iron man Navin Perera helped Royal to record a stunning win over Trinity College by 29 points to nil in their 76th Bradby Shield first leg encounter played at Royal Sports Complex last week.
Trinity will have it very hard and tougher in the second leg match with no points on the board in the first leg meaning they will have to score at least 40 points and restrict Royal to 10 points or under to pocket the trophy.
From the looks of it, Trinity will have to hope for a miracle.
In the first game thrilling encounter was on the cards before the commencement of the match and also a ‘surprise was expected from the Trinity outfit to pull off the game in their favour. But it was exactly the opposite which occurred as the entire Royal forwards fought like a bunch of terriers in the second half giving no chance whatsoever to their opponents as Trinity collapsed to the immense pressure applied by the Royal forwards.
Royal showed a marked difference from the way they played in the league decider against Isipathana a week before the Brady as they covered up all defences and got their opportunities to deploy the rolling maul to good use.
The lads from Reid Avenue produced a spectacular brand of rugby through their indomitable set of forwards who ultimately brought victory for them. They dominated the set pieces, scrums, line-outs, rucks and mauls with their fabulous loose play throughout the match.
Trinity played well in the first half but could not maintain the same form which they displayed earlier and caved in meekly. Royal forwards under the guidance of the head coach Dushanth Lewke and assisted by ex Sri Lanka national Sevens and fifteen a side captain Radhika Hettiarachchi did their part to perfection in the second half.
The man who made the difference was undoubtedly Royal’s hooker Navin Perera. He also controlled the phase of the game brilliantly through his set of forwards.
For Royal College Danuja Somaratne powered his way and dived over to touch down for a try and then replacement Number Eight Navin Perera dived over on the back of a fantastic rolling maul to score two back to back tries.
If that was not enough, their granite hard forward Dineth Gamage breezed past the try line to touch down for an exceptional solo try off a beautiful driving maul and full back Nabil Yehiya who was in fantastic kicking form put over a difficult 40 metre penalty to go along with three difficult conversions from various angles.
Peterites fumble against Thomians
S. Thomas’ College had some luck come their way as St. Peter’s College had no less than four opportunities in the dying minutes of their match and fumbled each time they came close to crossing the line before the contest ended in a 25-23 win for the Thomians.
The Peterites even missed a simple penalty in front of the post that could have made a difference but the Thomians took away the Archibald Perera Memorial Trophy.
At half time the Thomians led 20-19.
For the winning Thomians the four tries were scored by prop forward Jonathan Bulathsinhala, halfback Mahith Perera, centre Rehan Wickramasuriya and Janidu Dela while fly half Yehan Bulathsinghalage fired across the match winning penalty.
For the losing Peterites, fullback Kushan Tharindu, Hirun Gunaratne and winger Chathumina Nethsara scored one try apiece while Emith Jayaweera slotted in two conversions and Windya De Mel fired across the solitary penalty.