MSSA U-16 Div I football: St Mary's reaches semi final after 12 years

St Mary's captain Shane Aranha (left) heads the ball ahead of Don Bosco's Aryan Jhunjhunwala during their MSSA U-16 Division I quarter-final at Azad Maidan yesterday Pics/Suresh Karkera

St Mary's SSC (Mazagaon) knocked out defending champions Don Bosco 'A' (Matunga) 5-2 via tie-breaker to enter the boys U-16 Division I semi-finals of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) after 12 years, in a keenly contested encounter at Azad Maidan yesterday.

Despite some decent crowd support and cheers from the sidelines, the Bosco boys seemed to be struggling against the Mazagaon side. In the 15th minute, Don Bosco coach Leslie Machado brought in striker Shyam Redekar in place of Keith Fernandes. And just when the Bosco boys seemed to be settling in, St Mary's broke the deadlock in the 21st minute.

Skipper Shane Aranha's shot from the distance beat Don Bosco 'keeper Chris Johnson all ends up. Four minutes later, Shane attempted a bicycle kick, but injured his left hand, but he got up and played till the 60th minute despite the injury.

The Bosco boys did not give up the fight, however, and were rightly rewarded with the equaliser nine minutes later, when Shyam tapped in for 1-1. In the second half, St Mary's again seemed to be the better side as they were happy to defend and take the match into the tie-breaker even as the Bosco boys tried hard to score. In the shootout, St Mary's then replaced regular goalkeeper Ubaid Mukadam with defender Vincent Fernandes and the ploy worked. Vincent made two crucial saves, denying Aryan Jhunjhunwala and Kris Benson from the spot.

Mir Reza, Athar Ansari, Khatib Mohammed and Rahul Panchal were on target for St Mary's, while only Anson Tauro managed to score for the Matunga lads. Skipper Shane later admitted St Mary's were playing for the tie-breaker.

"Though they scored the equaliser, we would do well in the tie-breaker," said Shane, who had to be taken to hospital later as he suffered a fracture to his hand during the match. St Mary's coach Atish Ruke said Shane may be out of action for almost two weeks.

Meanwhile, Don Bosco coach Machado made no excuses for the defeat. "We played badly. We were off colour. We didn't want penalties," he said Machado.

Other results: Cathedral & John Connon 'A' (Fort) 0 lost to Jamnabai Narsee 'A' (Juhu) 1 (Ahan Kamat); Dominic Savio (Andheri) 1 (Duane D'Souza) bt Bombay Scottish 'A' (Mahim) 0; St Francis D'Assisi 'A' (Borivli) 1 (Siddhant Shetty) bt Campion 'A' (Cooperage) 0

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