The Bradby in two portions

Sharm de Alwis

The 1st Leg heroics enacted at Bogambara on May 30 would have been in honour of Sir Henry Newbolt one of whose poems is now the Trinity Anthem. In the first twenty five minutes Trinity made such sweeping moves with guts and purpose that, although aborted, were in essence, magnificent portrayals of “It’s not whether you won or lost but how you played the game”. Some of those stirring forays are framed and on display in the gallery of inner eye.

The whole world loves the under-dog and with Visvajith Wijesinghe reverting to his accustomed position on the wing, Idris Omar manning his pet position as number 8 and Armstrong of the high knee action who slips tackles in the manner of Glen Van Langenberg also back as winger, we awaited the second onslaught on Royal’s final frontier with hope surging that the deficit of ten points would not matter if two quick tries were scored by Armstrong and Wijesinghe.

The earlier defeats that Trinity overcame in the second Leg were in

1945 - 00/03 to win 06/00 - Robert Sourjah/CDL Fernando - inaugural Bradby

1946 - 00/03 to win 08/00 - S.B.Pilapitiya/Mahes Rodrigo

1962 - 00/05 to win 09/00 - Noel Brohier/U.L.Kaluarchchi

1972 - 08/09 to win 10/03 - Athula Unantenna/GDS Gunasekera

Whose would be the Last Hurrah? Would Royal be in a negative comfort zone after the first battle was won, but Dason experience of ten Bradbys was looming. “Books don’t matter; history doesn’t matter. Rugby is a language for Trinitians and Royalists,” said Chandrishan Perera. The referee would be Pradeep Fernando who wouldn’t break the rhythm of the game with whistle happy blowing and so we waited for the teams to be introduced to 1968’s Royal captain ‘Bulla’ de Silva and proceedings to be on their way.

Royal showed their clear intentions even with the kick-off and with a quick burst of robust play from both sides Royal was found to be under pressure to play from an off-side position. Armstrong’s penalty fetched 3 points for an early Trinity lead even though tries were what they hungered for.

High quality rugby ensued from both batches of protagonists and a sweeoping run by the Royal threes had been marred by a forward pass.

Royal dominance was such that they enjoyed 90% of possession and a cardinal error by Trinity’s defence allowed Hamza Hassen to get his side ahead 7-3. Trinity did not seem to have any defence structure in position and Royal were all over the field with crisp three-quarter moves. Trinity’s full-back misjudges a Royal kick which nearly ends in another try and even though Royal keeps up the momentum Idris Omar is in a tear-awy break. The referee is too close at hand for a Royalist to handle the ball in the scrum.

The next Royal sweep on the left flank is bottled up by the Trinity defence but for the next twenty five minutes Royal are camped on Trinity territory to finally fox the defence. Naren Dason’s try was poetry in motion and even though the conversion was missed Royal was sitting pretty with 12-3. Ominous up-hill task portends for Trinity.

Almost off the next kick-off Duminda Atygalle crosses the Trinity line but is tackled for the ball to pop out. Omar’s commitment is tremendous but once again Shehan Pathirana scores for Royal under the posts because Trinity mess matters. Royal 19-3 and in a clinical attitude in attack and whatever defence they may rareley be called upon.Their defence structure is copy book stuff. Next we find Trinity messing two line-outs like in Kandy.

Turn-over ball won by Royal. Trinity in disarray. Panic control calls for leadership which is not visible. Another fluid move of ball passing in mid field and Ranga Perera scores after Dason engineers the move. Royal 26-3 at half-time.

The fourteen days since the 1st Leg have not been sufficient for Trinity to eradicate Kandy errors and to fine-tune their play. They just go through the motions.

The second half commenced with a Trinity forward pass. The ball comes to Trinity from the ensuing scrum but they are not prepared and so Royal takes possession of the ball. A penalty is offered for a Royal error but Trinity is diffident and it is fully obvious that their confidence is dented. Yet withal, Armstrong scores when Royal knocks on. Never had a try been presented gift-wrapped and as Vhadrishan put it, “plate, cake and ribbon.” Royal 26-08.

After another tale of dropped balls, Trinity kicks right into Royal hands rather than above the head but with only a metre to go Royal drops the ball but Shamil Mohamed scores with the tackle for Royal to be 31-08. With Pradeep Fernando letting the game flow and new records on the horizon we see Royal go into a slumber mode and Armstrong scores again for Trinity for the final tally in the second Leg to be 31-15 and to win the Bradby shield 53-25.