Karim Shaikh wins it for Central Railway while St. Sebastian defeats Springfield

by Siddharth Yadav February 11, 2018

11th February 2018, Mumbai: On Sunday, two MDFA Super Division matches were played. Central Railway HQ faced ESIC at Goans Sports Association, whereas, St. Sebastian played Springfield at RCF Ground, Chembur. Karim Shaikh came from the bench to score the winner for Central Railway while St. Sebastian picked up a hard-fought win against Springfield.

Group C – Central Railway HQ (Shahbaz Pathan 22′, Sumesh Kumar 29′ and Karim Shaikh 82′) 3-2 ESIC (Alroy D’Souza 18′ and Ajinkya Umasare)

Central Railway made it three wins in a row as they defeated ESIC 3-2 in a thrilling Group C encounter. This was Central Railway’s third game where they have maintained a hundred percent record so far.

Earlier in the game, ESIC took the lead against the run of play when Alroy D’Souza scored a sublime goal past Central Railway’s goalkeeper Harshad Meher. But the Railways responded brilliantly when two goals within the space of seven minutes put them in front.

Shahbaz Pathan leveled the score in the 22nd minute before Sumesh Kumar made it 2-1 in the 29th minute. A dominant Central Railway side hardly gave ESIC any space to breathe. ESIC responded in their very own style when Ajinkya Umasare leveled the score which seemed like a final goal of the game. But there was a late twist in the match.

Central Railway’s Substitute Karim Shaikh was brought on in the last ten minutes of the game in hope to snatch a winning goal. The ever-reliable striker did just that. In the 82nd minute, a precise cross from Shahbaz Pathan was headed straight into the back of the net by Karim Shaikh’s glancing header. The number seven once again proved to be the key man as Central Railway registered a deserving 3-2 win over ESIC.

Group C – St. Sebastian (Axel Peter 5′ and Shrinath 74′) 2-1 Springfield (Nayan Kamble 64′)

In the other Group C game, St. Sebastian displayed a determined performance to edge past Springfield 2-1 at RCF Ground, Chembur. It was Shrinath’s goal in the 74th minute which turned out to be the decisive goal.

St. Sebastian made a great start when Axel Peter gave them a solitary lead in the 5th minute. The rest of the first-half was quite dominated by Sebastian who lacked the killer instinct in front of the goal.

Springfield hit back in the second-half (64th minute) when Nayan Kamble equalized with a sweet finish past Sebastian’s goalkeeper. But just ten minutes later, Shrinath restored the parity for Sebastian to claim all three points in a crucial game.