Inter-school football: Ash wins it in style

Apostolic Carmel girls pose with the Mumbai Schools Sports Association U-16 Division I trophy at Azad Maidan yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Enterprising midfielder Ash D'Silva, 14, once again hogged the spotlight as her decisive strike paved the way for Apostolic Carmel (Bandra) to snatch a 1-0 win against defending champions Arya Vidya Mandir (AVM) (Juhu) in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA)-organised girls' U-16 Div I final of the inter-school football tournament at Azad Maidan yesterday.

Ash, who had rescued her team with a crucial save in the tie-breaker during their semi-final win against Bombay Scottish (Mahim) on Wednesday, scored the winner in the 17th minute. After teammate Mehak Lobo was tackled by a defender on the edge of the penalty area, the ball deflected to Ash, who pounced on the chance and chipped it over an advancing Arya Vidya Mandir goalkeeper Diya Parekh.

Ash D'Silva

"It's a great feeling to emerge champions. We worked hard and are now overjoyed. For me, the victory is sweeter all the more as I scored the only goal of the match," Ash told mid-day.

"I want to dedicate this victory to my teammates and in particular, Mehak, who will be passing out this year," added Ash, a class IX student. The AVM Juhu schoolgirls were a shade better in attack, but their ace strikers Sai Sankhe, Khushi Khan and Vania Nagpal were kept in check by Carmel's resolute defence.

On the other hand, the Bandra girls created their own share of chances and were quick on the counter to take the fight to the rival camp. The goal also came from one such foray into the AVM area when Mehak moved in from the right, but was disposed by a defender and luckily the ball came to Ash, who scored with a first-time finish. They then hung on to that lead till the final whistle.

Earlier, Bombay Scottish (Mahim) bagged the third place after defeating Cathedral & John Connon (Fort) 4-2 via the tie-breaker. Both sides ended 1-1 after full time. The Bandra outfit had, earlier in the morning, defeated St Lawrence (Borivli) 3-0 in the third-place match of the DSO Subroto Cup inter-school (suburbs) football tournament. Mehak scored a brace, while Riya D'Souza netted one.

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