PIFA Colaba U19 holds Rhino FC in a dramatic fashion while Miners FC reigns at top

by Spandan Paul March 1, 2018

28^th Feb, 2018- Five matches took place over the last three days in St. Xaviers Ground Parel. While in 1^st year PIFA Colaba  & Skorost United FC could only manage an identical 2-2 stalemate against Rhino FC and Chheda Nagar Fanatic respectively while Miners FC held on to their top spot in group A courtesy the slimmest margin of win. In 2^nd division games SIFC and Bombay YMCA emerged victorious as we take a recap tour :
1^st division , Group C : Rhino FC ( Twain 2’, Sanket 38’)  2-2  PIFA Colaba U19 (Omkar 45’, Akash 59’)

It was a dramatic group C fixture in 1^st division to kickstart the week, as a spirited comeback in the second half saw PIFA Colaba U19 holding on to Rhino FC in a 4 goal thriller. The match started with great intensity and Rhinos increased it more when they drew the first blood in the 2^nd minute itself when Twain Fernandes capitalised on the initial glitches from PIFA backline and found the right bottom corner of the net courtesy a solo effort, after holding on to a nice ball from the halfline.

Early jitters shook PIFA to their core and they pressed on Rhino’s half with much more intent as Abhishek Sakpal, Omkar Shinde and Akash Sakpal combined well in the upfront but they missed the required firework in conversion. The best chance of this half fell to Sholk Raut who failed to put the ball into the net in the presence of deceived Rhino custodian after a clumsy gameplay in the D box.

Omkar was particularly unlucky as his shot hit the right barpost  couple of minutes later  as PIFA Colaba U19 looked determined to find the equalizer, but in vain . Rhinos also had a fair share of chances with the notable being Ganesh Madkar’s shy at the goal which was averted by a diving the diving PIFA goalie to his right.

Second half started with PIFA giving no respite to the Rhinos backline as they continue to pile up pressure. But Rhino SC doubled the lead against the run of the play owing to a costly defensive error by PIFA defenders as Sanket Bhagat got enough time at his feet to dribble across and sent the ball into the back of the net.

But PIFA never seemed to wither away from the game and continued their attack with more intent. They were rewarded finally, in the 45^th minute when a corner by Sahil More was put into the goal by Omkar Shinde ignite the hopes for PIFA Colaba U19. 15 minutes later PIFA found the much deserved equaliser and the last goal of the match when got a penalty after Omkar was brought down in the Rhinos D box.   Akash Sakpal calmly converted it to round up the match- fair and square.

1^st Division, Group F – Skorost United FC (Karan 43’, Amir 80+3’)  2-2 Chheda Nagar Fanatic (Saif 25’, 50’)

In another 1^st division match of group F, Skorost United FC rallied back with a last-gasp equalizer to hold Chheda Nagar Fanatic in another 4-goal affair match on Wednesday. Saif Khan opened the scoring in the 25^th minute for CNF, but Karan Jadyar brought back Skorost on par with an equaliser, 3 minutes into the second half before Saif completed his brace 7 minutes later. Skorost desperately seeking a draw at least, found their hero in Amir Bawa when he equalised in the last minute to put him team at the top of the ladder in group F, extending their unbeaten streak to 7 matches now.

1st Division, Group A – Miners FC ( Anmol 20’)  1-0  Somaiya Sports Academy

In group A of first division Miners FC showed no respite to the 4^th placed Somaiya Sports Academy as they peeped past them owing to the solitary strike by Anmol Singh in the 20^th minute. It was just sufficient for Miners FC to hold on to a narrow win and their momentum in a match where cards were drawn as many as 4 times as they continue their hot form with qualification to the next stage almost being certain.

2^nd division, Group H : Silver Innings FC ( Gaurav 13’, Deepak 14’)  2-1  NB challengers FC (Mithun 17’)

On Wednesday night, under the floodlights Silver Innings FC squeezed past NB Challengers FC in a first half burst. All the three goals came in the first half in the space of 4 minutes. Gaurav Narkar, the SIFC winger opened the scoring for them in the 13^th minute while Deepak Pal doubled the lead just a minute later. NB Challengers FC retaliated back with a strike by Mithun Manna to give rise to the shimmering hopes for the Bengal side. But SIFC made it almost one-sided affair after that as the speedy Deepak caused lot of trouble for the NBCFC backline with his footwork and incisive runs through both the flanks; switching more than often with Gaurav. Credit has to be given to Shyamal Dolai the NBCFC custodian for saving further blushes for NBCFC as he pulled off few breath-taking saves coupled with some luck as Deepak hit the crossbar once and sidenetted once, after dribbling past even Shyamal. This win enables SIFC to skip past Veera United to 2^nd spot with 17 points from 8 matches as well as kept the hopes of qualification well alive.

2^nd Division, Group G – Bombay YMCA ( Imran 15’, Adnan 24’, Tabish 67’)  3-0  Naval Dockyard

 Bombay YMCA registered their 6^th victory in 7 matches as they blanked Naval Dockyard 3-0 . Imran Shaikh and Adnan Ansari scored in the first half while Tabish Shaikh struck the 3^rd and the final goal of the match, around 68 minutes to round up an emphatic win for Bombay YMCA who now moves within 2 points of the table toppers Castle Boys, with 18 points and one more match to go.