Hansel D’Souza’s brace helps St. Dominic Savio HS sink St. Joseph Wadala

by Kaushal Shukla July 28, 2015

St. Dominic Savio High School (Andheri), edged out St. Joseph (Wadala) 3-2b in a thrilling Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) U-16 first division group A encounter held at the MSSA Ground in South Mumbai on Tuesday, 28th July 2015.

St. Dominic Savio High School started the game on the front foot, as they saw plenty of ball possession in the opening exchanges. They were soon rewarded with the opening goal in the 6th minute of the game when Hansel D’Souza slotted past the St. Joseph goalkeeper after getting on the end of a through ball.

But St. Joesph’s response to going down was good as they almost grabbed the equalizer six minutes later when Amaan Milani almost latched onto a hopeful through pass.

The opening spurred St. Joseph on as they began to get a foothold in the game. In the 22nd minute, Amaan Milani was again found through on goal, but unfortunately the forward could only see his shot come off the woodwork.

But St. Joseph were quick to pick up the pieces and conjure up a quick move which saw Tyson Patel in space in the Dominic Savio box as he fired a half volley into the bottom corner and draw St. Joseph level.

Like St. Joseph, Dominic Savio too reacted well to conceding and almost went in front in the 25th minute when Rajan Bobby’s powerful low strike was brilliantly kept out by the St. Joseph goalkeeper.

Both the teams went into half time level pegging at 1-1 with both sides having their moments in the first half.

St. Dominic Savio made a dream start to proceedings in the second half, when Hansel D’Souza was picked out by a clever pass from midfield as the forward made no mistake in finishing past the onrushing goalkeeper and put St. Dominic Savio in front within three minutes of the restart.

St. Joseph weathered the early storm from St. Dominic Savio, but didn’t generate any good opportunities of note.

St. Dominic Savio though had a golden opportunity to get some breathing space in the 49th minute when striker Rajan Bobby who was in an one on one situation with the goalkeeper, failed to keep his effort on target.

But a mistake from the St. Joseph goalkeeper allowed St. Dominic Savio to extend the lead after Lewis Glenn pounced on the loose ball and lifted it over the goalkeeper to make it 3-1 in St. Dominic Savio’s favor in the 52nd minute.

Just as we thought the game was over, St. Joseph pulled one back with just four minutes left to play and set up a grand stand finish.

St. Dominic Savio High School held on for the win as St. Joseph left it a bit too late. It was an entertaining game of football which was eventually edged by St. Dominic Savio who simpy created more goal scoring opportunities.