Air India U19, Dena Bank & Skorost FC prevails

by Siddharth Yadav January 25, 2018

25th January 2018, Mumbai: MDFA’s Republic Day Cup, also known as Nitu Mandke Invitation Cup, went ahead earlier today at the St. Xavier’s Ground, Parel. Air India U-19, Dena Bank and Skorost FC prevailed into the next round while Bank of India (BOI) bowed out on the first day of the Tournament.

Air India U-19 (Sanchit Bhatt) 1-0 Mumbai Warriors

In the first match, Air India U-19 played Mumbai Warriors in a closely-contested match. After a dull first-half, the deadlock was finally broken in the second-half when Sanchit Bhatt scored from close-range which eventually turned out to be the winning goal.

Both the outfits were wasteful in front of the goal and never looked like scoring once before Sanchit stole the highlight with a well-taken goal.

Dena Bank (Piyush Koli 2 and Arafat Ansari) 3-0 Somaiya SA

In the second match of the day, Dena Bank produced an impressive performance to sail past Somaiya SA 3-0 to qualify for the next round.

Forwards Piyush Koli and Arafat Ansari combined brilliantly to score three past Somaiya. Piyush bagged a brace while Arafat scored one. The latter also assisted twice which rounded off a neat performance.

Skorost FC 0-0 Bank of India (BOI) – Skorost wins 5-4 via penalties

The third match saw Super Division side Bank of India (BOI) facing First Division team Skorost FC. In what turned out to be a huge result, Skorost gunned down BOI 5-4 on penalties to book their place in the next round.

Both the sides missed numerous chances in the normal time. The composure in front of the goal was nowhere to be seen which took the game in the penalty shootout. Skorost kept their cool and edged 5-4 in an emphatic win.