Holy Cross qualifies after a stalemate in the decider while Bombay Gym Colts earns their first victory

by Spandan Paul February 1, 2018

31^st January, 2018: Bombay Gym. Colts notched up their first win of the season, in a 1^st division group B match against Jupiter Sports Club; while in a 3^rd division play-off decider, Holy Cross United held off Tarun Mitra Mandal to a stalemate in a decider, which was just enough for them to qualify for knockout phase.

3rd Division Play-Off : Tarun Mitra Mandal  0 – 0  Holy Cross United

It was the occasion for decider match of group B, in 3^rd division play off stage, when Tarun Mitra Mandal and Holy cross locked horns for the battle of qualification. While Tarun Mitra Mandal were desperate for a  win, to keep alive any hopes of qualifying further, Holy Cross only needed to negate any sort of upset.

Excitement was brewing all over the ground as the match started with former Indian international Steven Dias watching it from the sideline. Just 5 minutes into the first half Holy Cross would have gone up, when Tausif Malik put a header past the TMM keeper, only to be disallowed due to apparent push on the custodian . First half was action packed as both the teams tried to break the deadlock, but in vain; as both of their defense lines were alert.

Holy Cross seemed calm and patient on the ball, while TMM pressed hard whenever the scope was there. Nikhil Nagtilak survived an injury scare in this half but returned within minutes to lead TMM from the middle as he was the core of all their attacks. TMM, desperate for a win, started second half in an aggressive mode as Sarvesh took a great solo run from half-line only to be thwarted by the confident onrushing keeper. Minutes later Amsten Rodrigues pulled off a sensational block in the Holy cross box to frustrate TMM further. As the momentum seemed shifting towards TMM , Dean Rodrigues and Albert Gogoi took charge of the Holy Cross midfield to ensure the decisive point. In the dying minutes, Dean provided a beautiful through pass to Keith, the substitute, taking out 2 defenders in the process, but TMM goalie was not to be deceived, as he inflicted a wonderful save coming off the line.

Both the teams played their heart out in what was a cracker of a match with Holy Cross players celebrating the much deserved promotion.

1^st Division Group League – Bombay Gym. Colts (Jimmy, Shahnawaz) 2-0 Jupiter Sports Club

Earlier, in the day,Bombay Gymkhana turned it around after 3 straight losses, to inflict a 2-0 upset win over Jupiter Sports Club. Jimmy Shokrekhoda opened the scoring in the 19^th minute putting Bombay Gym Colts ahead, before Shahnawaz Khan doubled the lead in the 29^th minute , thus in course registered their first victory of this season.

With this win Bombay Gymkhana comes off the bottom to be placed just below their vanquished opponents with 3 points from 4 games at 7^th position ahead of Carmelites and Spartan Academy owing to better goal difference. Jupiter Sports Club though remains static at 6^th    position with 5 points in as many matches .

Kenkre FC Under-17 2 (Ninghu Chahongnao 2) beat Xavier’s Boys SC 0.

Kenkre FC Under-17 rode on the twin strikes from Ninghu Chahongnao to overcome Xavier’s Boys SC 2-0 in a First Division match of the MDFA League 2017-2018 and played at the St. Xavier’s Ground, Parel on Wednesday. Striker Ninghu scored the first goal in the 28^th minute and 19 minutes later struck the second to seal the win.