Sublime Kenkre shock Mumbai FC

by Kaushal Shukla January 4, 2016

Kenkre FC stunned joint leaders Mumbai FC as they inflicted a 2-1 defeat on them in the Maharashtra Zone encounter of the U-15 Youth League at Cooperage on Saturday evening. Goals from Krish Adhikari and Sanathan Sridhar at the extreme ends of the game propelled Kenkre FC to a second win on the spin.

Mumbai FC who had a hundred percent win record in the group, going into the game against Kenkre, started as favourites for the contest, but a determined Kenkre outfit upset the odds right from the outset when Krish Adhikari bundled home a 2nd minute header after Mumbai FC failed to deal with an early corner.

However, eight minutes later, Mumbai FC restored parity pretty much against the run of play when defender Nikhil Prabhu made a late run at the far post to head home a corner. It was a brilliant goal from Prabhu who made a clever late run at the far post to send a thumping header beyond the reach of the Kenkre goalkeeper.

Despite Mumbai FC’s leveller, Kenkre remained on the front foot and pegged Mumbai FC deep into their own half. The men in green were playing with a really high tempo which the Mumbai FC side was failing to cope with. Mumbai FC were lacking the outlet upfront with Kamran Ansari out with an injury and his striking partner Clivert Demers only making the bench on the evening.

Mumbai FC managed to hold Kenkre to a 1-1 score line at the break, but it was a score line which pretty much flattered Jeddy Almeida’s side.

The second half was pretty similar to that of the first as Kenkre seized the control of the game, forcing the Mumbai FC side to spend plenty of time in their own box. The gritty Mumbai FC defence began to frustrate the Kenkre FC side as the half wore on with the score still at 1-1, despite Kenkre’s dominance.

But nine minutes from time, Kenkre FC eventually found a way past the Mumbai FC defence who faltered as goalkeeper came off his line to clear the danger only to get beat by the Kenkre substitute striker Sanathan Sridhar who scored in the empty net to put Kenkre ahead with a 2-1 lead.

Mumbai FC threw the kitchen sink at Kenkre in the last few minutes, trying to rescue a point from the game, but Kenkre showed no signs of cracking and held on for a famous win. The win lifts Kenkre FC to ten points and pushes them into third place behind leaders Pune FC and second placed Mumbai FC.

The defeat doesn’t harm Mumbai FC’s chances of qualifying from the group, but hands Pune FC a big advantage in the race for winning the Maharashtra Zone.