Sports - It’s more than a Bradby at stake

It’s Bradby time once again. The talking point is on Royal and Trinity and how they would perform at this all important. encounter. Unlike in the past this year’s counts more than the “Bradby plum alone. The winners of this game will be in a higher plane next season while the other will languish in the ‘B’ division for another whole season. All three top teams in the division “B” Isipathana, Royal and Trinity are having equal chances for their promotion to the top league next year.

In the past on so many occasions, the team, which is weaker, has ended up turning tables. Intriguingly this year both sides are equally balanced with some hardy forwards and are set on a mission to hold on or to capture the custody of their cherished shield. The first leg of this Bradby encounter will be also a tournament game. But this year is a special one for the “Lions” as they are celebrating 100 years of rugby and this will be an ideal opportunity to finish their season on a winning note cemented with a promotion to the top division.

The match will be on September 9 at the Royal Sports Complex and following is the schedule for the games.

Under 12 - 2.15 pm
Under 14 – 2.40 pm
Under 16 – 3.00 pm
Under 18 – 3.45 pm
Under 20 – 4.45 pm

Bradby was on offer for the first time in 1945 when one of the Royal Principals E L Bradby (1939-1945) offered the trophy. Meanwhile Trinity was administrated by C E Simithrarachi offered for the under 17 trophy. In the initial game Royal was led by D L Fernando and the Trinitians were under R G Sourjah. Though Royal won the initial leg 3-0 Trinity came back strongly to take the Bradby when they beat the Reid Avenue school 6-0 in the second leg.

Trinity enjoyed the best series of wins from 1952-57 when they won the Bradby on 6 consecutive years. Royal’s best series of wins were from 2001-2004 winning for 4 years in-a-row. The 100th encounter between the two schools was played in 1983 in which Ashan Ratwatte led Trinity and Royal was led by Sriyan Cooray. Trinity won 20-16 on aggregate in this centenary encounter.

Only once in the history of the Bradby Shield has both games ended on equal points. In 1992 the first leg ended in a nil all draw and even the second leg too dead locked at 3 points a piece. Himesh Gunatilake led the “Lions” and Harindu Wijesinghe led the Reid Avenue School

Royal’s best victory in the series was in 2002 when they outclassed their arch foes in a two match series by 83 points to nil. Zulki Hameed led the Royal outfit in that year. The “Lions” hit back strongly after 4 years wait in 2005 when they simply outclassed and outplayed Royal in all the departments to aggregate 69 points to 13. Trinity was led by B N R Fernando with playmaker Pushpakumara being the architect behind their victory. This tiny scrum half will be remembered by the rugby lovers for may years as he looked a carbon copy of Michael Jayasekera (present Vice President –SLRFU).

Trinity are leading the tally with 33 wins to Royal’s 27 with one game ending in a tie.

Trinity under national youth player Imalka Maddumapatabendi opened the 2006 season with a warm up against St Sylvester’s beating them 21-7. Next they beat Army also in a warm-up at 20-14. Their preparation for the Centenary game against Kingswood was hampered when St Peter’s pulled out from their annual encounter without a valid reason. Though they lost to the defending league champions Kingswood 10-16 they crossed their opponents’ line on no less than two occasions. The major setback for Trinity in this game was place kicking, which cost them many a point that should have come their way. In their next encounter they retained the Canon de Saram trophy when they beat the Thomians 12-0. Then they ended the seven-year hoodoo by beating the Katugastota Antonians convincingly by 24 points to 13. While participating in the “B” division they recorded the highest points for the season when they rampaged to a 112-3 win over a shell-shocked Science College and continued their good form by inflicting defeats on Joes 38-20, Vidyartha 34-3 and Rajans 36-0.

The Royal outfit enjoyed a consistent year of rugby this season. They are led by nippy scrum half Chammika Sandaruwan. They opened the season against St Peter’s in a friendly encounter beating them 13-6. Then they followed it up with convincing wins over Science College (42-0), St Joseph’s (39-0), Vidyartha (31-7) and Dharmaraja (37-12). Finally they met their waterloo in their tussle against Isipatana in their own back yard by crashing to a 22-7 defeat. And thus lost the custody of the Maj Milroy Fernando Trophy. Without any doubt the finds of the season are the hooker Bilal Hassen and crack and dynamite number 8 Diran Warunakularusiya who have out fought their opponents time and again.