Striker Anaai D’Souza scored a sensational double hat-trick as Cathedral and John Connon (Fort) routed newly-promoted Gokuldham High School (Goregaon) 9-1 in a boys U-16 Division-I match of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) inter-school football tournament at Wings Sports Centre (Bandra) on Tuesday.

Anaai set the tone early, finding the net in just the second minute of the game. He followed it up with another strike in the fifth minute before completing his hat-trick by the 17th minute. Returning from the break refreshed, Anaai continued to pepper the Gokuldham goal, striking thrice in the space of five minutes (35th, 38th, 40th minute) to complete his tally. He was well supported by skipper Rian Uniyal, who chipped in with a brace, and Mahir Goradia, who scored once.  Gokuldham pulled one back through Malhar Bhave.

“It was a great day for us and we want to build on this momentum for the rest of the tournament,” Anaai, a Parel resident, told mid-day after the win.
Interestingly, Anaai, 14, was the top scorer, with 12 goals in six matches, as Maharashtra won the National School Games football title in Kolhapur in April. He is also a sprinter and won gold in the U-14 100m dash at the MSSA Athletics last year, clocking an impressive 11.84 seconds. This season, at the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) Games, he won both the 100m and 200m events in the U-17 category, clocking an impressive 11.06 seconds and 24.40 seconds respectively.