Round-up: MDFA Second Division play-off

by Siddharth Yadav March 25, 2018

25th March 2018, Mumbai: A total of four MDFA Second Division Play-Off league games were played within a day. On Saturday, under the floodlights, Bombay YMCA faced Charkop FC while Silver Innings FC encountered Worli Sports Club. On Sunday, Mumbai Rush locked horns against Lakers FC, whereas, JMJ Sports met Millat FC ‘B’ at the St. Xavier’s Ground, Parel.

JMJ Sports Club and Silver Innings FC continued their dominant form while Bombay YMCA picked up their first win of the play-off league in an eventful series of games. Although the one which took all the headlines was a spectacular 5-5 draw between Mumbai Rush and Lakers FC.

Group A: Mumbai Rush (Pathrose Joe 5′, Mohammed Murad 16′ & 67′ and Madhav Modak 18′ & 21′) 5-5 Lakers FC (Ronaldo Fernandes 33′ & 53′, Anshul Gawade 40′, Rupesh Shetty 56′ and Shubham Kadam 63′)

On Sunday afternoon, undoubtedly, Mumbai Rush Soccer Club and Lakers FC played out the best match of the season at the St. Xavier’s Ground. After taking a 4-0 lead, Mumbai Rush, unexpectedly, surrendered their four goals lead after Lakers FC scored five times to go 5-4 up. But Mumbai Rush finally manage to level the score in the second half to escape with a point.

In their previous game, Mumbai Rush suffered a 5-1 defeat at the hands of JMJ Sports Club. They needed a win today to keep their hopes alive to qualify for the next phase, but they clearly had a bad day at the office. They made a great start though. Pathrose Joe opened the scoring in the 5th minute before Mohammed Murad and Madhav Modak scored three back-to-back goals to put Mumbai Rush 4-0 ahead.

That’s when Lakers FC peaked. Ronaldo Fernandes and Anshul Gawade scored one goal each to cut short the deficit. In the second half, Ronaldo added Lakers’ third goal before Rupesh levelled the score with a superb finish. Lakers had all the momentum and confidence which they gained after a poor start. They finally completed a comeback when Shubham Kadam scored Lakers’ 5th goal in the 63rd minute to put them in front for the first time in the match.

Mumbai Rush picked themselves up and scored three minutes from time to escape with a point. Mumbai Rush prevented Lakers FC for a sensational victory but in the end, it is the Lakers who has taken all the plaudits for their spirited fightback.

Group A: JMJ Sports Club (Melvin Barboza 9′, Reuben Fernandes 17′ & 65′ and Raunak Killinger 44′) 4-1 Millat FC ‘B’ (Tanzeer Bhojani 65′)

In the other Group A game, JMJ Sports Club maintained their red-hot form to sink Millat FC B’ 4-1. It was their third straight win as JMJ finished at the top of Group A. Reuben Fernandes scored twice while Melvin Barboza and Raunak Killinger scored apiece. Meanwhile, for Millat FC ‘B’, Tanzeer Bhojani scored the lone goal.

Other results: Group B: Silver Innings FC (Shaheed Yeregatti 50′ and Gaurav Narkar 70′) 2-0 Worli Sports ClubGroup D: Bombay YMCA (Sajid Ansari 37′, 40′ & 52′ and Abdul Shaikh 65′) 4-1 Charkop FC (Aakash Giri 46′)