Trinity College managed to pull a 17-11 victory over S. Thomas’ College in a thrilling second half scuffle, played at the STC Big Club Grounds today. The Thomians were leading at half time 07 – 11 until the Lion hearted Trinitians managed to claw back into the game to retain the Canon R. S. De Saram shield for a 3rd consecutive year.

Thevin Eriyagama kick started the final game of the season for the Thomians with rainy clouds hovering over the playing field. The Thomians managed to steal a line out ball through Dunal Fernando and eventually won themselves a penalty where Thevin Eriyagama kicked for 3 points. (STC 03 – TCK 00)

The Thomians seemed to be in control of the game with a fantastic restart as Thevin Eriyagama’s kick from the collection went all the way to the Thomian try line and Trinity skipper Reshan Bandaranayake was in two minds whether to collect the ball or not. However, the ball was knocked backwards and Sadaq Ishak put a hand on the ball to score the first try for S. Thomas’. Eriyagama missed the conversion against the wind. (STC 08 – TCK 00)

As the rain poured down for a short while, Trinity College managed to crawl their way back into the Thomian red zone and only had themselves to blame for botching up two try scoring opportunities where the try was held up and phases later Ratwatte was pushed out inches short of the try line. In the 21st minute, the Thomians were awarded a penalty and Eriyagama kicked this one for 3 points, 30m away. (STC 11 – TCK 00)

The rain had already done its part to make the encounter a scrappy affair as a misjudged box kick from Sakith Perera didn’t go into touch as Reshan Bandaranayake collected the ball ended up in the hands of Janidu Ratnayake who made an incredible dash past all the oncoming defenders as he looped around from the right side to score under the post. Minidu Jayasundara made the easy conversion. (STC 11 – TCK 07)

The Thomians wanted to steal a penalty before halftime but a comedy of errors followed afterwards as none of the kicks went into touch as the strong breeze ensured the ball stays in field. Sanjeewa Chathuranga finally kicked it out with the Thomians leading at lemons.

Half Time: S. Thomas’ College 11 (1T 2P) : Trinity College 07 (1T 1C)

The Trinitians started the second half quite strongly with some intention to turn things around. In fact, they managed to milk out a number of penalties until the big prop forward Mahdhi Abdullah barged over the try line using the pick and go in the 40th minute. The conversion was missed by Jayasundara but Trinity managed to get into the lead for the first time in the game. (STC 11 – TCK 12)

The line outs of Trinity were continuously stolen by Dunal Fernando which created a lot of pressure on the Trinitians and subsequently it was Kaveen Jayasekera to steal the ball on a number of occasions to get the Thomians closer to the try line. Ratwatte was brilliant in the rucks as he managed to steal the ball and regain possession, depriving chances of the home team. With the Thomian line out being stolen, replacement scrum half Koojana Kulatunga passed out wide and Amith Kulatunga managed to squeeze his way to the try line near the left corner flag. (STC 11 – TCK 17)

The Thomians only had themselves to blame for not getting their line outs right and despite Koojana Kulatunga intercepting to score a brilliant try under post all the way from their 22, the try was not awarded. He managed to kick the ball away when the Thomians missed their line out once again. The Thomians were unable to end the season on a high despite coming close and the Canon R. S De Saram shield will remain in the hills for yet another year.

In his 2015 award-winning movie, Leonardo Di Caprio played the role of a man who was left for dead after being mauled by a bear. In a harsh winter, he was fending for himself and against all odds, dragging his badly battered body across the dirt, some of his limbs hanging by a thread. A human rag doll– marooned and seemingly with a sealed fate.

Read more: http://www.thepapare.com/boa-athu/

That is how Trinity would have felt after the hammering they received in the Bradby first leg, followed by a walloping from St Peter’s. They had copped 66 points in two weeks and were on track for a triple 30+ hiding at “Jurassic Park” by Royal.

Well, that was supposed to be the script. But as Leo Di Caprio did in The Revenant, the man who came back from the dead, Trinity– hauled themselves up to the mountain, pushing them almost and over the brink. Almost.

It was an incredible performance with possible, generational consequences. A belief, that a team which was written off could play with such inspiration, to do the improbable and almost achieve the unthinkable.

Trinity was back from the dead and walked out from their ICU, feeding tubes and all, dangling off their nostrils, dressed in a blood splattered hospital gown. They made it almost to the podium, only to be denied– as they were about to climb the final step. It was a desperate slip as they barely found a handrail to cling onto but in a frenzied hurry, it all sank in the cruelest fashion.

There lay The Revenant, as their supporters rushed in with jubilation, carrying them on their shoulders as Trinity sat up with a fist pump. Their adversary in Royal, victors of the Bradby on aggregate, clapped more in relief but deep down there was admiration, knowing they were well beaten by an opponent who was pummeled to within an inch of his life, but…stood up, wiped the blood off his brow and came back swinging. It was like the warrior who rose from a Golgotha. What an epic.

A riveting spectacle and one which we were all privileged to witness. You couldn’t write it in the stars.

On that adrenaline-fueled rush, let’s look at five key findings after the most spellbinding Bradby shield for a long while. The 75th edition is now done and dusted.

1. Jurassic Park conquered

Since coining the term “Jurassic Park” for the Royal Sports complex from about a year ago (last year’s Bradby), it had only aided and abetted to the mythical status of this venue. That of, how dominant and intimidating, Royal have been on their home turf.

That was until this Saturday gone by. Trinity in their almost blaze of glory, shattered this glass barrier like a crash test dummy on myth busters. It was a courageous strike fueled by a belief that their season was at crossroads. On the back of a massive pre-season (spending spree) trip to Wellington and serial changes in their set up, Trinity needed a result. They got it and almost filled their cup.

Beating Royal at the complex after 5 very long years, seemingly like 5 decades, their faithful had something to cheer about. Royal was 12-6 in all shield encounters coming into this and now, they were 12-7.

It was an almost fantasy-like end to what would have been a Bradby fairytale.

2. Captain courageous

Games such as these create and churn out heroes from the most likely and pivotal positions. In what was a captain Buck Rogers-like performance, Trinity skipper Reshan Bandaranayake stepped up to the plate.

It was courage under fire. A masterclass of will, which in turn brought out some skill.

Initially, after butchering a kick receive and fumbling to a knock on, he put that set back and the many catcalls behind him. Every time he was on the bottom end of another high ball, he started to commandeer Trinity back into the game.

The background noise, a sign of the times and new age “Royal” supporters, were soon, thinning away as he emerged with terrific counter strikes in a game where both teams traded in beautiful carnage. A man of the match performance.

It seemed to me, just like Captain Buck did in the 25th century, he too was playing for his team and their lifeline. He, along with his merry men, almost, manufactured a victory from their prototype of a defeat.

3. Indominos Tyrannosaurus Rex versus the Raptor

Coming into this game, the hosts and home town juggernaut were the only obvious bet for a victory. Their record and form line at “Jurassic Park” was truly savage.

Most visiting teams know what’s coming but there is very little they can do. You become a sitting duck or lunchtime snack for this Indominous T-Rex, a hybrid dinosaur who is at the top of the food chain. Just like from the movie.

Royal look to intimidate and bully their opponents and overrun them into submission. In a complete reversal of form, Trinity and their Raptor-like attitude– took it to the big boy and cut him down to size.

Fleet-footed nature and with unceasing determination to carry, props Nimesh Ekanayake and Maadi Abdullah played an absolute blinder. Smashing into their opponents like ocean waves onto boulders. It was a hair-raising finale.

Seventy minutes of cat and mouse came to an iconic finish. Trinity won but lost out on the shield. The Raptor almost cooked the T-Rex’s goose. Almost.

4.The audition for RHOC

So, here’s the part most of you have been waiting for. The glamour and off-field talent. The Kandy leg turned it on with some style and threw down the challenge for Colombo.

In what was a most emphatic response and a newmarket-handicap like effort, the Colombo glamour blew the upcountry out of the water. It was a technical knockout. In the words of an enthusiastic viewer, “it was a no contest”.

Play of the day:

No single play obviously made it on a day where patterns of play and hard graft stood out like a stallion on the loose. Trinity’s two big front rowers with telling carries which led to a beautiful try were all part of a well-constructed sequence.

The EQUALIZER:

Naming rights sponsors SINGER who made a wonderful decision to sign up ThePapare.com as their official and exclusive broadcasting partner. It has been an incredible ride and what a start to what would be a long relationship to come. The broadcast quality and passion in which it was delivered, did the Bradby and their sponsors absolute justice.

The verdict:

A photo finish which went down to the wire where the underdogs who would have otherwise rolled over and played dead, woke up from their slumber. It was all about attitude and unlike the altitude, they used to prep for last year’s Bradby. They had found their mojo and played like true Lions.

In the very words of The Revenant, Hugh Glass, the fictitious character played by Di Caprio– “As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight”. That is exactly what they did with actions which spoke louder than words. Trinity had finally, earned their respect. Deep down inside, despite winning the shield, Royal had given them their dues. The final handshakes and hugs were evidence enough.

Royal lived up to expectation at Pallekelle with a superlative performance and set it up for a grandstand finish taking an impressive 17 points lead to the 2nd leg as Kalindu Nandila kick started the blue ribbon game’s second leg.

Royal got their first chance of the game when they were awarded a penalty 22 meters away from the Trinity goal line as the kick from Dulan Gunawardena went through with a deflection from right upright. (RC 03 – 00 TCK)

Trinity lost their speedy winger Amith Kulatunga as he was sent to the bin for an offside infringement as the uphill task for the Kandy lads got even harder.

Referee Ishanka Abeykoon was very strict with the offside offences as he showed another yellow card as Kalindu Nandila was deemed offside and Trinity opened up their account with Direndra Ratwatte finding the white from a pick and drive. Minindu Jayasundara quickly slotted in the conversion to keep this Bradby alive. (RC 03 – 07 TCK)

Trinity played patiently working phases after phases and quick hands from the line managed to send the ball to the playmaker Minindu Jayasundara as he powered himself over two Royal defenders to score a crucial try just before the half time.

Half Time – Royal College 03 (1P) – Trinity College 12 (2T,1C)

The Royalists were guilty of being complacent with the 17-point lead on the aggregate that they had, as the Trinitians looked like a totally revamped outfit playing with hunger as they gave Royal a dose of their own medicine with Lenox Calyaneratne scoring from the back of maul to cut the aggregate to three points. (RC 03 – 17 TCK)

Photo Album – Royal College vs Trinity College – 75th Bradby Shield | 2nd Leg

Trinity lost Koojana Kulatunga as he was yellow carded and Royal finally woke up from the slump as they went back to their tried and tested rolling maul.  Rajindu Jayasooriya scored an important try to settle the nerves for the home camp. (RC 08 – 17 TCK)

Royal continued on their merry way with the rolling maul kicking the penalties they received to the corner and using their bulky forwards.  Trinity managed to stop it once but not the second as Rajindu Jayasooriya scored his second try to extend the lead for the Royal. (RC 13 – 17 TCK)

Trinity didn’t give up as they kept knocking on the door at Royal with hit after hit and quick hands from the backs ensured that Koojana Kulatunga went over the line keeping Trinity’s Bradby hopes alive. Miranaga Subasinghe converted this try as the game came down to an exciting finish.

>> Stats – TRINITY COLLEGE V ROYAL COLLEGE (BRADBY 2ND LEG) <<

Trinity had one last opportunity but a solid turnover from Royal ensured that the Bradby stayed at Reid Avenue for another Year.

Full Time –  Royal College 13 (2T,1P) – Trinity College 24 (4T,2C)

Dilshan Madushanka kick started this crucial game under hot and humid conditions and the Peterites got on to a flying start as Thenuka Nanayakkara slotted in easy penalty to open up the scoring. A few phases later, Nanayakkara collected the loose ball and made a cheeky back-of-the-hand pass to the speedster Raveen Fernando, who ripped through the Trinity defense to score under the post. (SPC 10 – 00 TCK)

Trinity had a few scoring opportunities, but their line out didn’t work as expected and their handling errors gave away possession to the Peterites. Thamuditha Dodanwatte missed an easy penalty kick from in front of the posts, which summed up the Trinity first half.

The Peterites consolidated on their lead when Janidu Fernando found the white wash from the back of a rolling maul. (SPC 15 – 00 TCK)

In the dying stages of the first half, St. Peter’s executed a training ground move perfectly as Trinity was expecting a rolling maul but the boys from Bamba went on with a few pick and drives as Nizran Nilar powered himself over the line to score the third try.

Half Time – St. Peter’s College 20 (3T,1C,1P) – Trinity College 00

St. Peter’s picked up from where they left off in the first half, with quick hands by the backs ensuring that winger Ishan Fernando scored the bonus point try. Fernando showcased his side-stepping moves as he went past the last two defenders to touch down. Nanayakkara made no mistake from the touch line, to make it a perfect 7. (SPC 27 – 00 TCK)

The Peterites gave away unwanted penalties at the breakdown and finally their skipper had to pay the price of a ten-minute breather in the bin as he committed an infringement after the final warning. Trinity pounced on to this numerical advantage as Mecan Yashwantha went over to score the first points for the Lions. Dodanwatte was spot on with his conversion this time as he added the extras. (SPC 27 – 07 TCK)

Trinity was hindered by disciplinary errors as the scrum half Koojana Kulatunga went to the bin for hands in the ruck. In the dying moments of the game, Thenuka Nanayakkara went on to score the 5th try for the Bamba Brigade as they retained the General Deshamanya Denis Perera Trophy for yet another year.

Appreciations to Papare and Nilhan Perera

Trinity College bounced back in style with an impressive 50-20 win over Science College in their Singer Schools Rugby League encounter at the Trinity College Rugby grounds in Pallekalle.

After suffering a defeat to the Joes in Havelock Park last weekend, there was some pressure put on Trinity but they delivered a fine all-round effort and dominated most facets of the game to come away with a comfortable win.

By contrast, the Science’ performance was error-strewn and they battled to contain the Trinity backline who eventually outscored their hosts by 8 tries to three.

Harsha Samarasinghe was in fine form for the lions as he scored a hattrick of tries and Mecan Yashwanth, Geeshapa Kulatunga, Amith Kulathunga and Minidu Jayasundara also crossed the whitewash for the hosts.

Science made a bright start and opened the scoring courtesy of a sprint down the left corner in the second minute by Tharusha Silva, whose try was subsequently converted. That was the only time the home side would hold the lead as the Trinitians soon took control of proceedings and Geeshapa Kulathunga scored the opening try for them in the 8th minute, in the corner. (TCK 05-07 SC)

The home side took the lead when Akmeemana failed to deal with a lovely set move as Harsha Samarasinghe gathered the ball before pouncing on a huge gap between the centers close to his try-line. Trinity didn’t stop at that, as soon after Thidas Thanthirige ran in for the third try for the Lions in the corner after the scrum half Karunayake sent the ball out wide to the stranded number 8 acting almost as a winger. (TCK 19-07 SC)

Next up Harsha Samarasinghe went inside out when the forwards gave him a chance to run at the Science line collecting a brace at that point of the game. He showed brilliant pace and game sense stepping past the awestruck Science defense. (TCK 24-07 SC)

Hasaranga Akmeemana then brought back the deficit through a silly penalty for a high tackle on their captain Shashin Munasinghe. (TCK 24-10 SC)

Mecan Yaswanth touched down for Trinity College on the brink half-time, this time Trinity scored through their forwards as the big lock barged over the whitewash. Trinity settled down as the game progressed and when they did settle themselves down, they showed that they were surely a force to be reckoned with as they went to half time 29-10.

Half Time: Trinity College 29 (5T 2C) – 10 (1T 1C 1P) Science College

Anyone thinking that halftime would halt Trinity’s newfound momentum would’ve found themselves sorely mistaken as they continued just as they had left off after the break.

Science scored next to give Trinity a little scare as they scored two beautiful tries using the width of the field using their wingers Dulaj Madapathage and Nishitha Vithanage. There were numbers out wide as Science brought the deficit within 9 points.

After some nervous exchanges, a successful turnover and quick dart from Tehan Karunanayake, the scrumhalf set the ball up perfectly for a charging Harsha Samarasinghe to pick it up and storm over the line to put them away further. (TCK 36-20 SC)

Not even another three minutes later the floodgates had fully opened with Amith Kulathunga adding his first try of the match. Trinity recovered a spilled ball from Science and unleashed the pacey Kulathunga, who turned on the gas to run it over the line from 46-metres out making the score 42-20.

Trinity stepped up a couple of gears on attack after the break while Science committed a plethora of unforced errors as they tried to haul the opponents.

Minidu Jayasundara then crossed for his first try shortly before the final whistle as the high ball collected by the fly-half was weaved away by himself over the line to give Trinity a commanding lead.

A spirited Trinity outfit managed to hold on to the ball in the dying embers and grind out a deserved win, causing somewhat of a traffic jam in the points table and raising plenty of eyebrows come the second round. (TCK 50-20 SC)

ThePapare.com Player of the Match – Harsha Samarasinghe (TCK)

Trinity

Tries by Harsha Samarasinghe (3), Minidu Jayasundara (1), Mecan Yaswanth (1), Amith Kulathunga (1), Geeshapa Kulathunga (1) and Thidas Thanthirige (1)

Conversions by Minidu Jayasundara (2) , Rishen Bandaranayake (2), and Miranga Subasinghe (1)

Science

Tries by Dulaj Madapathage, Nishitha Vithanage and Tharusha Silva

Conversions by Hasaranga Akmeemana (1)

Penalty by Hasaranga Akmeemana (1)

Last weeks performance against Zahira College should put the lads from the Hill Capital in good stead, but underestimating an Isipathana side that thrashed St. Anthony’s College would be a mistake.

Isipathana boasts a good back line as usual and would surely test Trinity with their attacking flair, any loose balls or mistakes will be pounced on.

With great ground conditions after the upgrading of the Pallakele turf a fast game is expected.

With last years encounter ending in a draw, and Isipathana retaining a majority of their players the odds favor the visitors, but it will be only on Sunday evening that we would see the end result.

We invite all Trinitians to rally around the team and show their numbers at the stadium. The U12s will start of proceedings, with U14, 16 and 2nd XV also having matches

The Trinity team will be.

Nimesh Ekanayake – Prop, Dulara Alawattegama – Hooker, Pabasara Munasighe – Prop, Mecan Yaswanth – 2nd Row, Chethiya Pananwala – 2nd Row, Zayed Faisal – Flanker, Diren Ratwatte- Flanker, Rahul Danaraj – No:08, Tehan Karunanayake – Half Back, Minidu Jayasundara – Fly Half,  Amith Kulathunga – Wing three quarter (No-11), Tevin Karunanayake – Center, Shayam Robinson – Center, Geeshapa Kulathunga – Wing three quarter (No-14),  Reshan Bandaranayake – Full Back (Captain)

Substitutes- Chalintha Nandasena,  Damien Tennakoon, Mahadi Abdulla, Prabath Wimal, Ruvishan Pananwala, Thidas Thanthirige, Danidu Herath, Miranga Subasinghe, Lithmal Moragoda, Harsha Samarasighe