Ashrafali Makandar nets winner for Mumbai Customs

by Siddharth Yadav November 29, 2017

28th November 2017, Mumbai: In a scintillating encounter, Mumbai Customs locked horns against a determined Kenkre FC side in MDFA – Mumbai District Football Association Elite Division at Mumbai Football Arena (Andheri) on Tuesday evening.

In what was a tight contest, a sublime goal by Ashrafali Makandar proved enough for Mumbai Customs to overcome Kenkre FC 1-0 who had earlier missed a penalty. The boys in yellow were dominant throughout the match which was quite surprising, considering their side was inexperience in front of a strong Mumbai Customs side.

Nevertheless, Kenkre FC displayed a brilliant performance who showed grit and determination for the whole ninety minutes. The first half-an-hour didn’t saw any genuine chance as both the sides defended brilliantly in critical situations.

Francisco Salin got the best chance of the first-half when he blazed his effort over the bar from close range. While Kenkre’s pacy winger Taha Kacchwala and Agnelo Colaco kept creating problems for Customs’ backline. While we are at it, Kenkre’s defender Shawn Fernandes had a standout game yesterday who defended for his life to keep Customs’ attack at bay.

His man-marking and strong challenges were the highlight of the day for Kenkre. Both the sides went into the break with the score tied at 0-0. In the second-half, Kenkre made a great start with Taha coming close to break the deadlock.

With the match towards a draw, Kenkre FC was awarded a penalty when defender Hekmat Singh’s mistimed challenge brought down Taha. Leander Dharmai stepped up, only to see his powerful penalty get denied by Liyaz Kaya’s brilliant save.

That’s where the match turned on its head. On the break, substitute Francisco Salin rounded Kenkre’s goalkeeper Adil Sameja and set up Ashrafali Makandar who headed home to finally break the deadlock. Suddenly, Kenkre found themselves on the back foot.

A couple of minutes later, Kenkre almost found the equalizing goal. Taha made a brilliant run inside the box from the left flank before placing his shot at the target, only to see the attempt is cleared off the line by experienced defender Hekmat Singh.

Customs’ stood firm and composed at the back as they defended the solitary lead to snatch their second win of the season.