Kenkre under-17s score two past Miners F.C.

by Balbir Singh November 16, 2015

On 15th November ’15, the Mumbai District Football Association Division 1 game between Kenkre (Under-17) F.C. and Miners F.C. played at St. Xavier’s ground, Parel finished in the favour of Kenkre F.C. by two goals to zero.

2-minutes into the match, Kenkre’s no. 12 Ajay Shah’s attempted freekick from the edge of the 18-yard-box went off-target. 2 minutes later Miners F.C.’s Vinay Jhadav had to make a goal-line clearance as Kenkre tried to guide the ball into the back of the net, after an initial good free-kick by no. 16 Mandip Singh.

On the 14th minute mark, a dazzling run and cut-inside by Ajay Shah of Kenkre only disappointed when his attempted shot just missed the target. The next opportunity fell to Miners, but another wayward finish in the end.
Another chance fell into the path of the Miners when they were awarded with a free-kick for a foul near the edge of the 18-yard-box. But no. 16 Amit Bisht’s effort was blocked. In a series of attacks that followed, Miners’ best chance of the half fell to Karan Bhujbal, who met a well-timed cross by no. 4 Joshua Almeida, but the former couldn’t shoot the ball clearly after chesting the ball down.

Ultimately Miners S.C. paid their price for the opportunities they missed. On the 34th minute mark Kenkre’s no. 7 Prathamesh Kadam delivered a great run on the right flank – beating his marker he crossed the ball into the path of Ajay Shah, who was arriving into the box from the left flank. The latter taps-in the ball into an empty net.
As the first-half came to its climax, the Miners were awarded with an opportunity to level-up matters before the end of first-half, but a halfhearted attempt was hit straight at the goalkeeper Sanriddh Jain.

The game was more open in the opening few minutes of the 2nd half & both sides enjoyed plenty of chances. On ten minutes, Sanriddh Jain the Kenkre GK was called into action and made a good stop to keep his side in the lead, after a good one-two was played by Miners at the edge of the box and a flighted ball was played at the far-post.

Chances came quickly for Miners, but a collective team effort from a resolute Kenkre side kept them at bay.
The moment of the match came on the cusp of the full time wistle, when Mandip Singh played a cross field pass to Prathamesh Kadam on the right flank, who ran a quarter of the pitch down the right, cutting inside, he guided ball past the keeper’s right and into the back of the net to seal the victory for Kenkre under 17s.

Kenkre coach Jaywant Phatak spoke to Football Counter post-match: “We are a team who are working collectively very, very hard.  We are group of young boys and they’re in the development phase.” Kenkre enjoyed a lot of chances, but failed to convert many, despite scoring on decisive moments in the game. “I was hoping for one more goal. Every team we will play will be against a much more mature side, more experienced than us.”

When asked what their approach is coming into games: “Our approach is very simple i.e. fight till the end, and with the strategy we had in mind we were bang-on!”