Pawar Public School (Kandivli) played with plenty of grit and determination and managed to eke out a narrow 1-0 win over a sprightly Gopal Sharma International School (Powai) in an engrossing girls under-14 Division-II final of the MSSA inter-school football tournament at the Goan Sports Association ground on Wednesday.

The Gopal Sharma girls started in attacking fashion and held the upper hand initially as Abriana Chandy, the livewire in their forwardline, made a couple of runs towards the rival citadel and came close to scoring. But, against the run of play, Pawar Public School captain Nishika Shah, from a snap counter-attack, scored the only goal of the match in the eighth minute. Thereafter, the Kandivli school girls defended resolutely to deny their opponents from scoring the equaliser, and ensured the title was theirs.