Inter-school football: Keep it up, Krishna!

Riding high on goalkeeper Krishna Jamdare's heroics, St Francis D'Assisi (Borivli) defeated St Stanislaus (Bandra) 2-0 in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) U-16 Div I inter-school football tie at Azad Maidan on Saturday.

St Francis D'Assisi's goalkeeper Krishna Jamdare saves one during their inter-school match against St Stanislaus at Azad Maidan on Saturday. Pics/Suresh KK

Striker Denny John opened the scoring in the 25th minute. A solo effort from D'Assisi's Arbaaz Sheikh saw their lead double in the 43rd minute.

Although Denny and Arbaaz stole the show, it was Krishna who put his gloves to good use and help his team clinch an important victory. Krishna, who is not the team's first-choice goalkeeper, made four crucial saves as D'Assisi continued their winning momentum. Saturday's win was their third in a row.

Krishna replaced regular 'keeper Aaron Mascarenhas a couple of matches ago.u00a0Krishna was keen to seal the opportunity when it arrived. "Aaron was under pressure to perform.

St Francis D'Assisi's Arbaaz Sheikh (right) vies for the ball against St Stanislaus' Sharan Murli during their U-16 inter-school tie on Saturday

Gokul Sir (Gokul Kanchan, D'Assisi coach) asked me to replace him in theu00a0second half of the match against Jamnabai Narsee (on August 1). I didn't want to let go the chance. This is my third match and I am glad that we haven't lost any match since then," said Krishna.

Krishna, who hails from a modest background, thanked his IC Colony, Borivli coach Anthony Dias for the encouragement. "My father paints houses. He has taken a loan for my sister's wedding (two years ago).

It is not possible for him to buy me decent football gear. Anthony Sir takes care of all my expenses. It is because of him that I am able to pursue football," said Krishna.

Both goal-scorers praised Krishna's effort under the bar. "We haven't lost ever since he entered the goalpost. He is doing an excellent work," said Denny.
Arbaaz said: "It was a |u00a0crucial match for us. We had to win this. Krishna's saves helped us win today."

Other results
' Campion (Cooperage) 2 (Aryan Sood) bt Bombay Scottish 1 (Jaish Patwa)
'u00a0Jamnabai Narsee (Juhu) 1 (Rahil Parekh) bt St Lawrence (Kandivli) 0
'u00a0St Mary's SSC (Mazagaon) 3 (Hamza Shaikh, Hormazd Master, Aamir Sakriwala) bt Dominic Savio (Andheri) 1 (Sumeet Bane)
'u00a0Don Bosco (Matunga) 3 (Marc D'Souza 2, Troy D'Souza) bt St Lawrence (Borivli) 0
'u00a0Christ Church (Byculla) 3 (Rayyan Shaikh, Ovais Darvesh, Juzer Dhinojwala) bt St Anne's (Malad) 0.u00a0