MSSA Football: Cathedral and John Connon Boys Emerge As Under-16 Division 1 Champions

Cathedral and John Connon, Fort emerged champions of the Boys Under-16 Division I in the Dream Sports MSSA Inter School Football Tournament. Cathedral Boys thrashed Smt. RSB AVM, Juhu 3-1 in the final at Wings Sports Centre, Bandra (West) on Monday.

Cathedral romped to a 3-0 lead in the first half to put AVM, Juhu under extreme pressure. They were content with defending in the second half, and their defense managed to thwart regular charges from AVM attackers in pursuit of reducing the deficit.

The Fort school's prolific striker Anaai Dsouza drew first blood in the 16th minute after he came up with a left-footed shot to find the net. Five minutes later, Zahan Mistry made it 2-0 to dismantle the AVM defense. Veer Kedia put his team in cruise mode by scoring the third goal just before the lemon break.

After conceding three goals inside ten minutes in the first half of the 50-minute match, the AVM boys entered with an attacking mindset in the second half to put pressure on the Cathedral defense. Left winger Rishan Arora made a couple of swift runs but was caught in the offside trap set by the alert Cathedral half line on both occasions. But Rishan had his moment after he smartly crossed a ball to substitute player Prithviraj Tanpure in the 38th minute. Tanpure latched onto the opportunity to lob the ball over the head of the marching Cathedral goalkeeper into the net.

The goal gave hope to the side with 12 minutes still remaining in the decider. But they couldn't reduce the margin further despite getting a few chances. AVM forward Vrusshabh Kaup was also caught in the offside trap as Cathedral's experienced coach Daryl Samuel marshalled his troops well. His message was well taken by the boys in the battlefield.

"It was a great performance from the boys. It is probably the first time Cathedral & John Connon has won any MSSA title in the elite division, at least in the last 12-13 years. I am happy for the boys. They did consistently well in the tournament," Samuel, who is an AFC B-License coach, said. Samuel co-owns the SFA academy and is also preparing for the AFC-A License course.

Don Bosco, Matunga, bagged the third place after defeating Don Bosco, Borivali, 7-6 via tie-breaker. Both sides were locked 2-2 in the regulation time.

Cathedral and John Connon (Fort) had a field day as their Under-16 Girls qualified for the Division I final. After a goalless full time, they defeated Bombay Scottish, Powai girls 4-3 via a tie-breaker. Cathedral girls will now meet Jamnabai Narsee, Juhu in the summit clash on Tuesday. Jamnabai overcame the challenge of Smt RSB AVM, Juhu via tie-breaker to prevail 4-3 after 1-1 stalemate in the full time. AVM girls finished on the losing side after their boys lost the boys final early on.

Results

Boys 16-I-3rd Place

Don Bosco (Matunga) (Prajeet Vinayagamoorthy, Vihaan Charaniya, Bhavya Sandish, Eshant Nikam, Affan Mirza, Avanish Bhaigade, Sheldon Dias) (7) full time score (2-2)Beat via tiebreaker Don Bosco (Borivali) (Aarav Kataria 3, Cristian Lewis, Elijah Fernandes, Reenesh Kotian)(6)

B-16-I- Final

Cathedral and John Connon (Fort) (Anaai Dsouza, Zahan Mistry, Veer Kedia) (3) Beat Smt. R.S.B. AVM, (Juhu ) (Prithviraj Tanpure) (1).

G-16-I-SF

Cathedral and John Connon (Fort) (Anasuya Raju, Seisha Kedia, Saisha Damodar, Shreyasi Daga) (4) Full time score (0-0) Beat via tiebreaker Bombay Scottish (Powai) (Abigail M. Dsouza, Amna Noorani, Ciona Biju) (3).

G-16-I-SF

Jamnabai Narsee (Juhu) (Nehchal Bright 2, Adrika Shukla, Aarna Agasti)(4) Full time score 1-1 Beat via tie breaker Smt RSB AVM, (Juhu) (Nmara Mishra, Narmadaa Mishra, Kavya Aher) (3)

B-16-II-C

SVKM (Vile Parle) (Nivaan Pawar, Smayan Gupta) (2) Beat St. Francis DAssisi (Borivali) (Ronit Toppo) (1).