Mumbai: A goal each by Aryaman Tandon and Rohan Batra propelled Dhirubhai Ambani International, Bandra to a 2-0 win over Bombay Scottish, Powai and cruise into the final of the MSSA boys under-16, Division III Interschool football tournament.
At the Neville D'Souza Football Turf in Bandra, here on Friday, Dhirubhai Ambani's path into the final was cleared when Tandon opened their account in the 23rd minute and later in the 41st minute Batra put it beyond the reach of their rivals netting the second.
They take on Hiranandani Foundation, Powai who earned a hard-fought 6-5 win via the tie-breaker against Colaba Municipal School, Colaba, after the teams failed to break the deadlock in the regulation time.
Marking the strike players and creating openings were the main strategy of the Dhirubhai Ambani;s as they held an edge over their rivals, Bombay Scottish, Powai.
The boys from Powai were no easy nut to crack as they countered the boys from Bandra by holding on to the ball giving little room from their rivals.
But, Ambani boys who sued their wings well and kept them on high alert upfront broke the deadlock when Tandon outpaced a couple of defenders to pack a punch. This happened in the 23rd minutes of play. They managed to hold on to the slender lead till the breather.
After the changeover, Dhirubhai Ambani marked the Bombay Scottish players well and they kept their trust in passing and creating chances. The deficit did not dither Bombay Scottish as they were more offensive in their approach, but they lacked the final punch in the striking zone.
However, a poor finishing by the Scottish keeper cost them the second goal. The keeper instead of collecting the ball tried to kick it and unfortunately for him and his team went to Rohan Batra, who made no mistake in beating him all hands down for the 2-0 final verdict.
In a well-contested encounter Hiranandani Foundation, Powai overcame the stubborn Municipal School, Colaba 6-5 via tiebreaker to set up the summit clash on Monday.
It was goalkeeper Shaurya Mittal, who did a commendable job under the bar was the architect in Hiranandani Foundations passage into the final.
Result
Hiranandani Foundation, Powai: 6 (R Malik, Y Kaushik, A Tandon, Y Patwardhan, A Jhamb, A Srivastav) bt Colaba Municipal School, Colaba: 5 (S Singh, P Shahi, R Gupta, P Chavan, D Tansdel); via Tie-breaker, FT: 0-0; Dhirubhai Ambani International, Bandra (A Tandon 23’, R Batra 41’) bt Bombay Scottish: 0
