MDFA Super Division Match: Bombay Gymkhana vs. Salcette SC

by Prasad bhutkar January 8, 2016

Bombay Gymkhana came back twice from a goal down to beat Salcette SC in a seven goal thriller in the Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) Super Division match at St. Xavier’s ground Parel on Friday 8th January 2016.

The game was entertaining in all aspects ending 4-3 in favour of a spirited Bombay Gymkhana although they had to dig deep after going down early in the first minute. Salcette SC pounced on a loose ball and that resulted from a corner which was eventually headed in by number 10 Kaustub. After going down 1-0 Bombay Gymkhana fired on all cylinders in search of the equalizer and eventually a horror-show in the Salcette box as they failed to clear a loose ball saw Siddhanta Pinto shoot in the right bottom corner to equalize in the 18th minute.

Just when it seemed Gymkhana boys would score the second Salcette produced an attack down the right and the eventual cut back was handled in the Gymkhana box resulting in a penalty to Salcette. Number 10 Kaustub stepped up to make it 2-1 to Salcette in the 21st minute scoring his second of the game. As we went into half time Salcette SC lead 2-1

The second half promised lot of fireworks as Bombay Gymkhana were chasing the game. And as expected they started the brighter of the two sides with a few shots on goal early in the opening minutes of the second half. The breakthrough came eventually in the 60th minute when number 5, Harmeet Vig curled in a lovely shot on the top right corner equalizing for Gymkhana as we moved ahead in the second half.

Bombay Gymkhana had all the momentum in their favour as they looked in search of the third goal and were kept waiting for some time before an error in the midfield lead to their third goal. The ball launched forward into the box and a well timed run in the box from number 7 Farzad slotting it past the Salcette keeper to complete a comeback in the 73rd minute. That goal took the sting out of Salcette as another error in midfield in the very next minute saw Harmeet Vig make a run from the center into the box chipping the ball wonderfully over the keeper making it 4-2 in the 74th minute to Bombay Gymkhana.

Just as the game seemed to be over there was a moment of controversy when number 8 Karthik of Bombay Gymkhana was shown a second yellow for a tackle which turned out to be a sending off. The first yellow card to the player was given when he entered the field without informing the fourth official. Gymkhana had a 2 goal lead but were down to 10 men with 15 minutes to play. Eventually Salcette managed to grab a goal back in the 94th minute through number 14 Pratik but it wasn’t enough as Bombay Gymkhana emerged victorious in what proved to be a thriller of a game.

The game had everything, goals, yellow cards, a red card and some words exchanged between the Gymkhana coach and Salcette bench after the red card was shown. In the end Bombay Gymkhana’s quality saw them through by a goal. FT: Bombay Gymkhana 4-3 Salcette SC