Pratham stars in Pawar Public's 4-0 rout of Cardinal Gracias

Pawar Public's Pratham Nair after his team's win against Cardinal Gracias yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Pawar Public School (Chandivali) produced a strong second half performance and scored four goals during this period to hand Cardinal Gracias School (Bandra) a 0-4 defeat in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA)-organised boys' U-16 Division IV inter-school football tournament at Azad Maidan yesterday.

Striker Pratham Nair played the lead role with a brace while teammates Ritwik Sali and captain Meet Khatu netted one each to complete the winning tally. The Pawar Public boys credited coach Viraj [Khanolkar] Sir for their win. "We dominated from the start, but missed many chances in the first half. During the break, Viraj Sir gave us a pep talk, which was motivating.

"He instructed us to be more focused and to cut down on mistakes. We did exactly what the coach said and there was a big change in our game. All of us played much better and we managed to convert four chances and win the game," an excited Pratham and his teammates told mid-day.After switching sides, Ritwik scored the first goal from Meet's assist in the sixth minute to break the deadlock. Three minutes later, Pratham volleyed in the second goal.

Pawar Public continued to hold sway and struck two quick goals in the dying moments. In the 39th minute Aaron Lobo provided a pass for Meet to score the third and in the next minute, Pratham latched onto Amog Kalyanpur's pass to score his second goal and the team's fourth to complete a satisfying victory. In another match, Our Lady of Dolours (Marine Lines), powered by Sanket Arekar twin strikes, overcame JD Bharda (Grant Road) 2-0.

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