Gritty ten men of PIFA Colaba see off Central Bank of India

by Kaushal Shukla May 28, 2015

PIFA Colaba FC edged out Central Bank of India (CBI) 1-0, after they were reduced to ten men with the Colaba outfit having no one on the bench to replace the injured Elvis Ozowara in the first half in the Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) Elite Division game held at the Goan’s Sports Association on Wednesday, 27th May 2015.

PIFA Colaba goalkeeper James Swami put in an excellent performance to see PIFA Colaba over the line.

The game had very slow tempo to it at the start with neither team able to get any sort of rhythm going. The game’s tempo further suffered when PIFA’s Nigerian striker Elvis Ozowara’s shoulder got dislocated leading to a big injury lay-off. PIFA had to play the remainder of the game with ten men with the men in orange having no substitutes to replace the injured Nigerian.

PIFA stepped up their game post the injury lay off and were rewarded in the 27th minute when Zeeshan Shaikh’s long range effort went through the hands of the CBI goalkeeper Sarfaraz Ansari.

It was a poor piece of goalkeeper from the CBI custodian especially after doing well prior to that error which led to the PIFA goal.

The curse of the injuries continued to hit the game as many little niggles disrupted the flow of the game as PIFA Colaba held on to their slender lead as the referee blew the half time whistle.

CBI slowly gained control in the second half as and began to dominate proceedings post the half way mark in the second half. But the Bankers weren’t clinical enough in the final third to force an equalizer.

CBI who were enjoying numerical advantage made a real assault at the PIFA Colaba goal in the last ten minutes of the game, but PIFA Colaba goalkeeper James Swami had an inspired afternoon goal as he twice came off his line to successfully deny CBI the equalizer.

The ten men of PIFA Colaba held on for a hard fought victory over a CBI side who put them under extreme pressure in the second half.