St Andrew's win DSO title after two years

St Andrew's Jr College girls are all smiles after beating MMK Jr College at Borivli's St Francis D'Assisi Ground yesterday

St Andrew's Jr College (Bandra) defeated MMK Jr College (Bandra) 2-1 to clinch the District Sports Office (DSO) girls' U-19 football title after a gap of two years at St Francis D'Assisi Ground, Borivli yesterday. The win ensured that Andrew's would represent Mumbai suburb at the DSO zonal tournament, to be held at Fr Agnel ground, Vashi from September 19.


St Andrew's Jr College girls are all smiles after beating MMK Jr College at Borivli's St Francis D'Assisi Ground yesterday. Pic/Nimesh Dave

In the first half, Aditi Shetty headed the ball in from a corner kick to give St Andrew's the lead in the 15th minute. In the 21st minute, Rida Nizami doubled their tally with a tap in from close range. Four minutes later, MMK's Priyanka Kamble reduced the deficit scoring off an assist from Shrushti Mohite.

Goalscorer Aditi said: "It feels great to win this title. Since we have never played against MMK, after scoring the first goal our strategy was just to defend the game. Once Rida scored the second goal, we were confident we could win."

Meanwhile, St Andrew's coach Sydney Alexander said, "Two years ago, we had a strong girls team who went on to win the state title. Last year, we couldn't even make it to the semi-finals. I hope this team is able to achieve what the 2013 team could and win the zonal title."

In the boys' U-17 schools district final, riding on Dhiren Patni's brace, St Francis D'Assisi High School (Borivli) thrashed St Lawrence High School (Kandivli) 4-0 to qualify for the DSO zonal event. Mandar Vasaikar and Viren Mudaliar netted a goal each for the Borivli school.