Ahmed Sailor KO: Ronit's lone goal powers St Joseph's into final

St Joseph's Ronit Singh scored the winner against St Dominic Savio yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

St Joseph's Secondary School (Orlem) were rewarded for their positive, attacking play as they stunned Dominic Savio (Andheri) 1-0 in a semi-final match of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association-organised boys' U-16 Ahmed Sailor knockout inter-school football tournament at Azad Maidan yesterday.

Ronit Singh, with a brilliant solo effort, netted the winner in the 41st minute to take his school into the final against defending champs Don Bosco (Matunga). The final will be held today.

St Joseph's showed good understanding and coordination as they launched a number of raids to keep the Dominic Savio defenders on their toes. The Orlem side came close to scoring on a couple of occasions in the first half. They continued to dictate terms in the second and finally hit the target.

The goal came from a swift counter-attack when midfielder Ian Durate, with a perfect pass, put Ronit in possession. Ronit trapped the ball just outside the box and then weaved his way past a couple of Dominic Savio defenders to calmly chip over an advancing goalkeeper Piyush Gupta. This triggered off celebrations in the St Joseph's camp.

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