22 December,2015 07:57 AM IST | | Rufus Vedanayagam
The Mazgaon outfit rally from two goals down to beat Dhirubhai Ambani International (BKC) 3-2 and seal MSSA Div-II third place
The victorious Diamond Jubilee School (Mazgaon) who beat Dhirubhai Ambani International (BKC) to finish third in the boys' under-12 inter-school football tournament pose with their coach Shamsuddin Shah (in white) after the match at Azad Maidan
Some inspiring words from coach Shamsuddin Shah in the half-time interval ensured Diamond Jubilee High School (Mazgoan) overturned a two-goal deficit to beat Dhirubhai Ambani International School (BKC) 3-2 and seal third place in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) boys' U-12 Division II inter-school football match at Azad Maidan yesterday.
The victorious Diamond Jubilee School (Mazgaon) who beat Dhirubhai Ambani International (BKC) to finish third in the boys' under-12 inter-school football tournament pose with their coach Shamsuddin Shah (in white) after the match at Azad Maidan. Pic/Suresh KK
Aryaman Tandon scored the opening goal for Dhirubhai Ambani in the 17th minute, getting to the end of a cross from the right by teammate Arjun Asudani. Four minutes later Aryaman doubled the lead after he dribbled past Diamond Jubilee goalkeeper Hussian Atterwala from the left flank to ensure Dhirubhai Ambani entered the half-time break with a comfortable 2-0 lead.
During the half-time break a furious Shah told his players that they should stop playing football given their dismal first-half performance. He also promoted two of his defenders (Zaid Charania and Saad Payak) to play upfront as forwards in the second half.
Super move
The move paid off, as the Diamond Jubilee lads got on the offensive more often. Saad reduced the deficit for the Mazagoan school in the 30th minute with a brilliant strike that beat Dhirubhai goalkeeper Neveille Patel to his right and three minutes later, Zaid equalised for Diamond Jubilee.
Seven minutes later, Saad scored the winning goal for the Mazagaon outfit after he dribbled past goalkeeper Neveille and tapped in for 3-2.
Coach Shah was ecstatic. "In the break, we were down and had nothing to lose, so I decided to make a tactical switch and I'm glad it worked in our favour.
"I reminded the boys that this was a do or die situation since it would be worthless coming so close and not winning anything. I also told them that they should stop playing football if we lose today," said coach Shah. Thankfully, his wards won't have to give up the beautiful game now.
