Mumbai: Strikers Shamer Swami and Jaydeep Panarkar were both in impressive scoring form and they scored a hat-trick of goals each in leading Air India Colony Boys to a fluent 8-0 win against Egyptian Boys in a Men’s Open semi-final match of 19th Kalina Football League organised by the Our Lady of Egypt Church Sports Committee under the auspices of the Mumbai Football Association, and played at the St. Mary’s HS ground, Kalina.
The two forwards Swami and Panarkar combined effectively with the midfielders and did well to convert all the chances that came their way to score six goals between themselves. Air India Colony Boys dominated play throughout and their defence was rock solid as they did not allow the rival attackers from finding the back of the net.
The fancied Air India outfit got the other two goals through the efforts of Vinod Pandey and Kishan Singh, both contributing to the win with a goal apiece.
In the second semi-final, strong title contenders Kalina United fought hard and managed to get the better of FC Kolovery ‘A’ by a fighting 3-2 margin to book their place in the final.
The Kalina United side were well-served by Keegan Pinto, Melvin Barboza and Naresh Baji, all scoring a goal each to help their team snatch a tight victory. FC Kolovery fought well but could only score two goals through Deepak Apte and Noel Mascarenhas and had to bow out.
Results – Men’s Open (semi-finals): Air India Colony Boys 8 (Shamer Swami 3, Jaydeep Panarkar 3, Vinod Pandey, Kishan Singh) beat Egyptian Boys 0.
Kalina United 3 (Keegan Pinto, Melvin Barboza, Naresh Baji) beat F.C. Kolovery "A" 2 (Deepak Apte, Noel Mascarenhas)
