Jamnabai goalie Joshua Narde's brilliant performance keeps Don Bosco at bay
The match between defending champions Don Bosco (Matunga) and newly-promoted Jamnabai Narsee (Juhu) may have ended in a barren draw, but one player stood out. Jamnabai goalie Joshua Narde was brilliant under the bar in match that was delayed by over half-an-hour due to a protest rally held by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray.
ADVERTISEMENT
The 14-year-old effected four fine saves against a stronger opponents during a Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) U-16 Division I inter-school football league match at Azad Maidan yesterday. In the first half, Narde blocked Bosco striker Neville D’Cunha’s shot twice from close range. In the second half, he saved Bosco defender Keanu D’Souza’s long ranger. But blocking a penalty from Bosco’s Vikrant Belwalkar in the second half helped Narde’s team snatch a point from the Matunga outfit.
Impeccable record
The goalie now holds an impeccable record of not conceding a goal in the last seven ties in the MSSA league. A visibly elated Narde, who was a part of last year’s Division II runners-up squad, said he wants to make the most of the opportunity.
“I was nervous before the match as we were playing against one of the best school teams. I got the confidence after talking to coach Albert sir (Braganza). I am glad that I could perform under pressure,” Joshua told MiD DAY.
Results: B-16-I: Campion School (Cooperage) 2 (S Jain 2) bt St Dominic Savio (Andheri) (0); St Mary’s SSC (Mazagaon) 1 (A Sakriwala) drew with Christ
Church (Byculla) 1 (R Shaikh); St Stanislaus ‘A’ (Bandra) 0 drew with Bombay Scottish (Mahim) 0; B-16-II-A: St Mary’s ICSE (Mazagaon) 1 (Y Choudhary) bt St Xavier’s (Fort) 0.
Match called off
Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) Division IV U-16 inter-school football match between Our Lady of Salvation (Dadar) and SIES (Matunga) was called off at the Azad Maidan ground due to a protest rally held by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray. Earlier, Don Bosco (Matunga) coach, Leslie Machado’s request to hold their match against Jamnabai Narsee (Juhu), which was delayed, at a later date was not entertained
by the organsiers. u00a0