When Trinity College, led by Sri Lanka Youth deputy skipper and number eight Imalka Maddumapatabendi, take on Royal College, skippered by Chamika Sandruwan, at 4.45 p.m at Reid Avenue today, their main objective will be to retain the coveted Bradby Shield which they won last year with a record breaking margin of 69 points to 13.

Maddumapatabendi’s boys will do their best to keep the trophy in their possession as last year they laid their hands on it after four years under the captaincy of B.N.R. Fernando.

For the victorious outfit of the first leg the doors will be opened to the 'A' Division next season while the loser will have to remain in the 'B' Division for another year.

Trinity who now lead the table has better chances with Isipatana for promotion, while it will be an uphill task for Royal after a defeat at the hands of Isipatana. Thus Royal must win the first leg to keep their chances alive for promotion to the top division, next year.

Today the battle will be between the two sets of forwards. Royal pack weighing 640kgs has a 100kg advantage over the Trinity forwards but the Trinity pack is considered quite a mobile set.

When one takes the Trinity three quarters into consideration, though they have not lived up to expectations, they have come out well where try scoring is concerned. Royal three quarters lack experience.

It will be interesting to witness how the back division of both teams combine with the forwards.

The two props Jezeer Hassan and Sathaya Ratnathunga along with hooker, Mahen Wickramasiri will form the Trinity front row while Manil Abeyratne, Umesh Koralagama with hooker Ayesh Rajapakse will comprise the first row of Royal. Dimithra Siriwardana and Yasas Ratnayake will be the Royal lock forwards while Rasantha Madawala and Sean Wanigasekera will lock the Trinity pack. The two pairs of flankers who are stern in tackling are Milinda Gunawardena and Vice Captain Shehan Deane of Trinity and Bilal Hassan and Vice Captain Gayshan Wijesinghe of scrum down as the flankers for Royal.

The halves combination will comprise the two nippy scrum halves Nishantha Manickam (TC) and skipper Chamika Gamage (RC) while Keneth Jacobs (TC) and Omar Hassan (RC) will operate from either side as stand offs. Among the Centres Trinity's Kasun Samradivakara stands out as the best while Azfar Marzook will be the other man to watch. In the Royal camp Dilshan Senanayake and Isuru Jayathilake are expected to give out a good run as the centres. Suvinda Lenaduwa and Sajith Balage take charge as the wingers for Royal while Srinath Seneviratne and Eshan Dean of Trinity play as their wing backs. Krishan Kirinde (TC) and Ishara Perera (RC) will make the last line of defence.

Trinity will miss the services of their winger Sanka Senerath on medical grounds.

In the department of place kicking both teams lack the expertise. The kicks will be taken by full back Krishan Kirinde for Trinity and Omar Hassan for Royal.

Yet another important feature in today's game is the participation of two brothers each from Royal and Trinity. The Deane brothers - Shehan and Eshan (TC) and the Hassan brothers - Bilal and Omar (RC)

The highest try scorer for Trinity this season has been Imalka who has over 10 while Srinath, Manickam, Kasun and Rasantha have scored three each. For Royal the Hassan brothers along with their dynamic number 8 Warnakulasuriya have done the most scoring.

Under - 12 - 2.30 p.m.

Under- 14 - 2.45 p.m.

Under- 18 - 3.20 p.m.

Under- 20 - 4.45 p.m