Royal retains Bradby Shield for third successive year

By Chris Dhambarage

Royal College produced a sterling performance to beat the traditional rivals Trinity College 13-8 in the 73rd annual Inter-School Bradby Shield second-leg rugby encounter worked off at the Royal Sports Complex in Colombo on Saturday.

After the scores were level 3-3 at half time the home side rallied around magnificently with a tremendous performance to score two unconverted tries and added the finishing touches in a spectacular manner.    

Royal’s success also had a great amount of significance as they went on retain the Bradby shield for the third successive year on a superior aggregate of 35-25 after their 22-17 victory in the first-leg encounter played at Pallekele two weeks ago.   

The Trinitians of course kept their hopes alive with a determined performance in the first half where they restricted the opposition to a solitary penalty under soggy ground conditions.     

However, Royal were able to hold their nerves despite the mounting pressure and planted two vital tries midway in the second half to put the issue beyond doubt. 
  
Trinity made a desperate attempt to stage a comeback as they managed to score their first try of the match during the latter stages. 

But Royal looked a confident outfit as they successfully defended the last few minutes of the game before recording a memorable victory in the end.