No Favourites but Trinity Looking to Retain Bradby

Published : 9:10 am  June 16, 2012 |  One comment  |     |   (6)  |  

The 68th annual Bradby Shield encounter between traditional rivals Trinity and Royal scheduled to be kicked off at the Royal Sports Complex in Reid Avenue at 4.30 p.m. today is no doubt going to be of importance to both teams.

But Trinity who are the current holders of the shield will be coming into the game with the aim of retaining the shield for yet another year. But even then the Royalists who are defending league champions are not going to be pushovers as they are just two matches away from retaining the league.

With this also being a Singer Under 20 inter-school league encounter it’s going to be of significance for Royal as the outcome of this game is also going to be crucial. Likewise Trinity will be coming into the game with confidence and will be looking forward to make a repeat performance of last year.

Last year Trinity after conceding the first leg to Royal 2533, came back with vengeance to record a smashing 40-5 win in the second leg which saw them regaining the Bradby Shield after three years.Looking back at the performance of the two teams this season Royal so far has a clean sheet with seven wins from as many matches while Trinity has lost one game from the seven matches played so far.

But the two teams are equally balanced and the supporters of the two sides can expect a blockbuster with no quarters asked or given. The two teams also know the importance of this game and with the best coming out in a game of this nature it could anybod’s affair.

According to sources from the hill capital Trinity will be coming into the game with their full side and the way they performed in the last few matches they look a confident side. On the other hand Royal underwent some anxious moments and in some of their winning games was made to fight hard for their victories.

The Royal-Trinity rugby series began way back in 1920 but the Bradby Shield which is named after the former Royal College Principal E. L. Bradby was awarded only in 1945 after which the second leg of the encounter was introduced and the team with the highest aggregate score of both matches is declared the winner.

The first ever inter-school rugby match between the two teams in 1920 was won by Trinity who beat Royal by 26 points to nil. The first leg of the inaugural Bradby Shield in 1945 was won by Royal 3-0 but Trinity won the second leg 6-0 to become the first holders of the Bradby Shield.

The highest winning aggregate in the series is by Royal when they chalked up 89 points in the year 2002 in the two legs with a 39-0 win in the first leg in Colombo and a 440 win in the second leg in Kandy. Trinity lead in the tally of wins with 36 victories to Royals 30.

- By M Shamil Amit