Hedgewar Boys lifts MDFA U-16 Youth League title

by Spandan Paul February 18, 2018

17th Feb, 2018 – It was the occasion for the final of the most exciting age group league – MDFA U16 league, as Hedgewar Boys( FC India) locked horns with Milan FA. Though this was the youngest league in Mumbai, the crowd in St. Xavier’s Ground, Parel was the largest. It was a delight to all the fans as they cheered and whistled throughout the game, giving the young talented kids, the much needed motivation. It was an exciting match with both the teams fighting tooth and nail for the glory. Ultimately it was Hedgewar Boys ,who prevailed in the tie-breaker to lift the trophy.

FT – Hedgewar Boys (Dhruv 5′) 1-1 [7-6 in Tie-breaker] Milan FA (Aryan 3′)

The tone was set from the word go as both the teams proved that they aren’t going to just lay back and wait for a fair opportunity as both of them went on an all out attack. The first five minutes was basically a small demonstration of how fearless are these youngsters.

It was Milan FA, who drew the first blood in the 3rd minute itself, as Aryan the centre-midfielder put them ahead with a sublime strike. Hedgewar Boys went on an vicious attack after the setback and restored the parity couple of minutes later. It was Dhruv the no. 10 of Hedgewar Boys who equalized after a beautiful cross by Om, which caught the backline by surprise as Dhruv went clear and scored past the Milan custodian in the second attempt.

With the first 5 minutes producing 2 goals, crowd got restless and chanted for more such stunners from the youngsters. But it wasn’t the case, as both the defense stood their ground and denied any improvement in the scoreline for the whole first half. But it was indeed an eventful first half, as Milan FA were denied by the woodwork after a brilliant through ball from defense found Suyash, who took a breezy run through the right flanks and provided a pitch-perfect minus to the left winger whose shot hit the crossbar to deny Milan FA the lead.

Hedgewar boys also retaliated back as Arun Gupta took charge in the middle and provided plethora of long balls to his forwards who were well covered by the Milan FA defense, which stood firm to clear any sort of dangerous balls.
Second half followed in the similar fashion with both the teams going for the kill.Whereas Milan FA was a tad too adventurous, Hedgewar Boys mixed aggression with caution. Arun Gupta who was easily the standout midfielder of the day for Hedgewar along with Milan’s Aryan; provided a brilliant touch to make Ayush go clear in the Frontline, only to be denied by a similar covering by Milan defense, just like that of the first half.

Minutes later Arun himself was the recipient of an exquisite ball from Aakash, the defender but had to be contented without scoring owing to a similar covering by the defense, which was consistent throughout the match. Best chance of the match for Milan FA fell their way when the no. 7, Sagar provided a wonder of a through pass to his forward Ashish, whose heavy first touch to go beyond the custodian proved wrong as the ball went out of his control.

Hedgewar Boys understanding the situation well concentrated on defending, and pounced on any given mistake by the Milan boys. One such instance came when Aryan Rajput tried to score a stunner from the half-line itself as the backline of Milan was inside the Hedgewar half. It narrowly missed the crossbar.

As none of the teams could add on to their tally of goals, the match rolled on to the tie-breaker for the decision.
It was a marathon tie-breaker as all of the kids from both the squads converted their first 6 respective spot kicks. While Ahaan, Ashok ,Aryan, Dhruv, Kedar, Nilesh, converted the first 6 tie-breaker for Hedgewar; Aditya, Ashish, Aryan, Sahil, Dishank, Sagar scored for Milan.

As the game rolled on to sudden death Ayush shoot a perfect penalty to put Hedgewar ahead 7-6. Milan FA needed to score to keep the game alive; that’s why Kedar Achrekar donned the keeping gloves instead of the regular custodian.
That momentary surprise might have unsettled the focus of Anurag who took the 7th kick.

Anurag’s spot kick hit the very bottom of the ball, which caused it to fly way more than what was required as a diving Kedar saw the ball going up and missing the goal. Hedgewar Boys erupted like a nuclear bomb, as all and sundry rushed to the middle to celebrate the victory, while some were seen applauding the vicious efforts of the Milan boys.

It was a classic exhibition of youth development as the youngsters displayed various traits of personality overcoming fear of the occasion, anxiety, morale to deliver their best on the field. One golden example of this was when Ayush who seemed tentative, refused to take the 6th spot kick for Hedgewar; but came back strongly to score the 7th and final penalty, that too with perfect precision over coming all the tension brewing around.

As Hedgewar boys lift up the champions trophy, the determined faces of Milan FA made it clear that its just the beginning to a bright future of football in our country, without the fear of losing.