Young kids with their enthusiastic parents jostled for space alongside some of the city’s veteran football followers, including administrators from Mumbai Football Association (MFA) and the Western Indian Football Association (WIFA), besides former national and international players and coaches as national-level football returned to the iconic Cooperage after over a decade. Hosts MYJ-GMSC did not disappoint the 823-strong turnout either, battling for a 3-3 draw against Sporting Club Bengaluru (SCB) in their I-League 2 campaign opener on Friday.

It was a story of two halves with the hosts waking up late, conceding two soft goals in the first, only to fight back in the second. Silly defensive errors by MYJ first up saw OM Asif and S Devadath put the visitors 2-0 up. The second half though was a stark contrast, as MYJ right winger Shravan Shetty turned up the pace a few notches to set up goals for Kiran Pandhare and Arvindraj Rajan. But just as the hosts were celebrating the equaliser, SCB went ahead through Karthick Thirumalai before MYJ’s Ashish Lalge netted the equaliser.