74th Bradby Shield encounter: Royal hold clear edge

By Shamseer Jaleel

The 74th Bradby Shield encounter between Trinity College and Royal College will take place tomorrow at the Royal Sports Complex. 

Royal has had a smoother path to the first leg of the clash and holds the edge.

The Kingswood game was a good warm-up for the Reid Avenue lads, as they produced a four-try blitz and were very impressive from the kick-off onwards against St. Anthony’s College up in the hills. 

They cut loose in the latter half to post a win by more than a half-century. They repeated their good performance when they bagged the Michael Gunaratne Trophy with another 50-plus point win against their traditional rivals S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia. 

The last one was a tough outing against St. Joseph’s College. The game though did not see a great performance from either side, with Royal winning 18-13 and ending St. Joseph’s unbeaten run in the Singer League 2018.

Royal is led by their centre Shabith Feroze, who has been outstanding this season not only with his powerful runs but has led the team from the front, making very critical decisions in a correct manner. Janindu Dilshan, Thulaib Hassan and Ibrahim Barie have been the pick of the players from the Royal camp.

Trinity kicked off their season against St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota in Nittawela. The Antonians led for most of the game but the Lions hit back with a three-try blitz to record a close 15-11 win. Then the Joes game, which was the second for Trinity, saw them play well in patches but in the last 10 minutes they wilted and the Darley Road outfit planted tries at will. 

Further, none of the five try conversions were successful for the Trinity outfit. Gaining territory and making penalty kicks was a major concern for the Trinitians but they did overcome it well in their third game against Kingswood after a few kicking sessions with former Trinity, Kandy SC and Sri Lankan player Saliya Kumara. The Kingswood game could have gone either way, with Kingswood winning 23-21. Importantly though Trinity was successful with all their try conversions.

Trinity is led by national youth player Avishka Shiek, who possesses plenty of experience on the Asian Sevens circuit under Naveen Heenakankanmge at the Under-18 level. He is well supported by Naveen Rajaratnam, Warren Weerakoon, Akitha Sakalasooriya, Lennox Calyanaratne, Reshan Bandaranayake and Mohamed Ikram. Their winger Vishwa Ranaraja is the pick of the players from the Lions camp this season. Giving him space is asking for trouble and he will run circles around any side.

For the last three years the trophy has stayed with Royal. Trinity lost under Isuru Rangala and Rahul Karunatilleka (tie) and last year too Trinity lost under Nathan Yee. Out of the 73 encounters, Trinity leads the tally with 39 to Royal’s 32. Two games ended in ties in 1992 and 2016.

Leading referee Dinka Peiris will create history when he takes charge of his fourth consecutive Bradby since 2015. He is qualified and accredited as a World Rugby Level 3 match official in Malaysia in 2013 and got accredited as a World Rugby Coach of Match Officials Level 1 recently.  

The squads

Trinity College: Avishka Shiek (Capt.), Naveen Rajaratnam, Warren Weerakoon, Nimesh Ekanayake, Mohamed Ikram, Neranjan Vitharana, Pravinda Wijetilleke, Yomal Bandara, Joshua Peter, K.K.D. Nethwara, Lennox Calyanaratne, Tehan Karunanayake, Akitha Sakalasooriya, Vishva Ranaraja, Janidu Ratnayake, Reshan Bandaranayake, Mahadi Abdullah, Mecan Yashwanth, Dhiren Ratwatte, Zayd Faizal, Wimal Prabath, Amith Kulatunga, Minidu Jayasundera, Danidu Herath, Harsha Samarasinghe and Mohamed Shuaib. Lote Raikabula (Head Coach)

Royal College: Shabith Feroze (Capt.), Janindu Dilshan, Maleesha Madumevan, Himantha Hirushan, Induwara Ranatunga, Ibrahim Barrie, Samadhi Induwara, Sasitha Siyath, Fadhil Adahan, Radesh Wijeratne, Risith Kavayanjana, Mubeen Faleel, Migara Mihinsaka, Nipuna Yashogan, Nikhil de Silva, Dulan Gunawardena, Lehan Gunaratne, Thulaib Hassan, Deshan Perera, Yasis Rashmika, Kalindu Nandila, A.L. Nawran, Ifham Fareed, Bhanuka Samaranayake, Chamod Kavindu and Dev Vidarshana. Dushanth Lewke is the Head Coach