Inter-School Football: Kids made to skip lunch to play match

Colaba Municipal School players (left to right) Devansh Tandel, Raj Gupta, captain Jay Rathod and Prakash Sahani after their 4-0 win over JJ Academy (Mulund) in a MSSA boys U-16 Ahmed Sailor knockout match at Azad Maidan yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

The Colaba Municipal School players displayed loads of energy and stamina as they braved the hot and humid conditions, skipped lunch and still managed to play two matches, winning one, within a span of three hours yesterday.

First, they played a District Sports Office (DSO) match against Fazlani School (Mazgaon) which they lost 0-1 at the Goan Sports Association ground, Cross Maidan at 12:30 pm. Then, they quickly rushed to play their first round match, scheduled for 1.30 pm, against JJ Academy (Mulund) in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association-organised boys' U-16 Ahmed Sailor knockout inter-school football tournament, at Azad Maidan.

No sign of exhaustion
The Colaba lads, who had time only for a light snack between their matches, showed no sign of exhaustion and instead produced an outstanding effort to record an authoritative 4-0 win to enter the second round.

However, the Municipal school's officials, accompanying the youngsters, were not too happy with the scheduling. "Complaining is of no use because the organisers are least bothered. We have no option but to make the children play. Our schedule in the last two days has been very tough. We played a DSO match yesterday [Wednesday] which we won and today had to two back-to-back games. Somehow, the boys managed to win, and I give them full credit," coach Jagdeep Dhanu told mid-day.

"Today, thanks to some thoughful MSSA officials, our boys were allowed some rest as they delayed the start of our match," he further added. The Municipal School boys worked as a well-drilled unit as they showed good co-ordination and understanding. They did not take much time to get their attack going and opened the scoring in the very third minute. Diminutive midfielder and captain Jay Rathod, 13, did the spade work for Raj Gupta to score the first goal. Later, Prakash Sahani trapped a weak defensive clearance and shot home the second in the 22nd minute as the Colaba lads entered the break leading 2-0.

On resumption, the Colaba boys continued to hold sway and added two more goals. Jay and Prakash worked in unison to create an opening for Devansh Tandel, who made no mistake in finding the net (29th min). Then, Prakash fired one in from the edge of the penalty area to round off the tally.

Adrian's hat-trick
The Colaba lads now meet St Anne's High School (Malad), who beat St Anthony's High School (Vakola) 4-1. Adrian Murad led St Anne's charge by scoring a hat-trick, while Nathan Braganza added the fourth goal. For St Anthony's, the lone goal was scored by Pranav Kudalkar.

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