Don Bosco ‘A’ (Matunga) wins MSSA U16 Division 1 title

by Siddharth Yadav August 8, 2017

8th August 2017, Mumbai: In the final of MSSA (Mumbai School Sports Association) U16 Division 1 at Cooperage Stadium, reigning Champions Don Bosco ‘A’ (Matunga) produced a fine second-half display to defeat Campion ‘A’ (Colaba) 3-0 to successfully defend their MSSA U16 crown.

The match was contested in very hot and humid conditions which bothered both, the players and the supporters. To play a final in such conditions is questionable, at least for U16 players. Still, both the sides took on the heat and played out a fantastic final.

Ninal Dudwalkar scored twice in the final stages of the match, whereas, Nathan Murzello scored the other one to complete a memorable win against a strong Campion ‘A’ side who was backed by their fellow supporters in form of friends and parents from the stands.

Campion ‘A’ started off brightly. They build their attack all the way from the defensive backline by popping in long balls straight into the penalty box.

Every time a Campion player received the ball possession, the crowd made sure to cheer them. Such was the atmosphere created by Campion supporters.

Midway into the first-half, Campion’s Captain Aryaan Majumdar made a brilliant solo run from the halfway line but Don Bosco’s strong defense kept him out of the bay.

At the stroke of the half-time, Campion would have got the lead but Pranay’s close range shot only managed to sail over the bar. Don Bosco didn’t manage to threatened Campion’s defense in the first-half.

The second-half turned out to be the exact opposite of the first-half. Don Bosco ‘A’ took the match proceedings in their control and started to initiate the play which was lacking the first-half.

Most importantly, since the introduction of Krishna Karkera in the second-half, the match turned on its head.

In the 50th minute, Don Bosco’s Ninal Dudwalkar finally opened the scoring from a close range to give the defending champions a vital lead in the final stages of the match.

Campion lost control of the match after Ninal’s goal. Moments later, inspired by talented Krishna Karkera’s performance, Don Bosco managed to score twice in quick succession to retain their title.

Nathan Murzello and Ninal scored one each right in the end to complete a 3-0 win for Don Bosco. It turned out to be a hard-fought final for Don Bosco ‘A’. Being the defending champions, the pressure was always there for the Matunga-based School. Even though Campion dominated the first-half, Don Bosco made sure to improvise on their first-half performance to score thrice in the last quarter of the game.

3rd place match: St. Stanislaus ‘A’ 2-0 St. Francis D’Assisi
Zaeem Dodhiya 13th minute and Elvis Vaz 56th minute