The post Photo Gallery: GMSC vs Air India U19 (Republic Cup – Final) appeared first on Football Counter.

The post Photo Gallery: Air India U19 vs Century Rayon (Republic Cup – 1st Semi Final) appeared first on Football Counter.

The post Photo Gallery: Air India U19 vs Worli SC (Republic Cup) appeared first on Football Counter.

The post Photo Gallery: Air India U19 vs Central Railway (H) appeared first on Football Counter.

One of the most anticipated matches in this year’s MDFA Super Division was Mumbai Strikers vs Air India U19. They locked horns in the semi final, battling for a place in the final. A win for Mumbai Strikers would promote them to the Elite Division but a win for Air India U19 could mean the end of the story for the Strikers who were in red hot form all throughout the season.

The match began in favor of the Strikers as Akshay Devadiga successfully converted a penalty in the seventh minute to give Mumbai Strikers an early advantage. The strikers then had to go defensive as Air India began a string of attacks leaving all 11 Strikers players to defend the lead. And with all the misses from Air India coupled with a resolute defensive performance Mumbai Strikers went into the break with a one goal lead.

Air India U19 came out all guns blazing in the second half. And with number 7  Amey Bhatkal leading the charge, they managed to equalise immediately just 5 minutes into the second half. A lovely one-two before calmly slotting home the finish. Air India U19 won a penalty in the 55th minute which was cooly converted by Jayesh Sahani completing the turn around. But there was more to come from the Cristiano Ronaldo of Air India U19 team Amey Bhatkal. He latched onto a brilliant cross from the right scoring his second goal making it 3-1 in the 62 minutes.  The enxt 15-18 minutes belonged to Mumbai Strikers

Mumbai Strikers did not give up. And could have got back into the game. But a magnificant performance from the Air India keeper kept them out. The strikers also missed a host of chances. 6-7 clear cut chances were spurned by them. That was a dent to their comeback. That did not stop Amey who cut past 4 players along the touchline before slotting home the ball completing his hattrick. A second half hattrick of the highest order that took Air India in the final of the MDFA Super Division play off. They will await the winner of the second semi final. M.S.Police and Dena Bank who play on Sunday on the Goans ground at 3pm.

The post Amey Bhatkal’s hattrick inspires Air India comeback against Mumbai Strikers in the Super Division semifinal appeared first on Football Counter.

After a topsy-turvy week, we have finally managed to reach the day where Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) semi finals will be played at Poinsur gymkhana, Kandivali.

Football Counter brings to you an exclusive round up article of all the results that took place over the week in the build up to the semi finals. All the 8 teams were divided in a group of 4 each with groups being called Group X and Group Y.

Group X consisted of M.S.Police , DECA, Mumbai Strikers and Millat FC whereas Group Y incorporated Air India U-19, Mumbai FC U-19, Dena Bank and Sellebrity SC

Day 1 of the playoff saw Group X in action. DECA taking on Mumbai Strikers and M.S.Police facing off against Millat FC. DECA manged to edge Mumbai Strikers by one goal to nil while M.S.Police beat Millate FC by 2-0

Day 2 had Group Y  matches. Sellebrity SC’s clash with Air India U19 and Dena Bank going head to head against Mumbai FC U19. Air India U19 beat Sellebrity SC by 2-0. Dena Bank were 3-1 victors over Mumabi FC U19.

Day3 : Group X

M.S.Police 2-0 DECA

Mumbai Strikers 3-0 Millat FC

Day 4: Group Y

Dena Bank 5-2 Sellebrity SC

Air India U19 2-1 Mumbai FC U19

Day 5: Group X decider

Mumbai Strikers faced M.S Police to determine the winner of group X. It was Mumbai Strikers who defeated  M.S.Police by 3-1 to top the group X qualifying for the semi finals.

Group 6: Group Y decider

Dena Bank and Air India U19 locked horns to determine the group winner of group Y. It was Dena Bank who managed to edge Air India U19 by 1-0 topping group Y.

There you go guys. A roller coaster of 6 days and it still does not end here as everyone of us is waiting for the winner to emerge

Semi final 1: Mumbai Strikers vs Air India U19

Semi final 2: Dena Bank vs M.S.Police

See you all at he Poinsur gymkhana ground for the all exciting semi final matches

The post Mumbai Striker’s date with Air India U19, M.S.Police face Dena Bank in the semi-finals of Super Division play-off appeared first on Football Counter.

Air India U-19 are a team to reckon with in the Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) leagues. They went head to head with Sellebrity FC who had reported 15 minutes late to the ground resulting in the referees making it a 40 minute half. The Super Division play offs are in full swing these two weeks with the final being played on 3rd March. The teams have been divided into Group X and Group Y out of which Four will make it to the semifinal and the final will contest for the Sper Division Division title

Sellebrity FC dominated large portions of the first half. Constructing attacks from the defense to attack all they lacked was the finishing in the box. Air India U-19 were on the back foot for that time but had some moments of their own where they looked sharp in attack. Air India are one of those fewer clubs who have a compact side and it grows from game to game. When they could not score at one end they made sure that the score remained 0-0. At halftime the score was deadlocked at 0-0.

In the second half. Air India U19 came out and played some exceptional football. Number 7 Amey Bhatkal scored the opener giving them the lead in the 50th minute. To Sellebrity’s credit their attempts to come back in the game looked slim looking at the resolute defending from Air India. And any glimmer of hope was put away in the 71st minute when Amey Bhatkal netted his second to give Air India all three points.

Every win in the play-off is a step forward in the semi final whereas a defeat leaves the progress in doubt. Air India U-19 moved one step closer to the semi final. Whether or not Sellebrity FC can go ahead remains to be the question which will be answered as we move ahead.

The post Amey Bhatkal’s brace guides Air India U-19 past Sellebrity FC appeared first on Football Counter.

Mumbai FC U20 got past ICL A and HDFC on their road to the final whereas Air India U19 defeated Young Boys and Century Rayon. The final lived upto its expectations after going till the penalty shootouts. And Mumbai FC held their nerves to lift the trophy.

The FINAL as it happened:
Mumbai FC U-20 came into the match as underdogs with everyone favoring Air India U-19 to win the final. And they were on the front foot from the very first minute when number 9 Digvijay Yadav flicked a shot towards goal from the left which was saved by the keeper. A foul at the edge of the area in the 8th minute saw Number 10 Prince take a freekick. The shot was deflected and went inside the goal giving Mumbai the lead. From then on Mumbai U20 were on the frontfoot.  Air India U19 pressed in the final minutes of the first half and they were successful in equalising with a few minutes to go. Sumesh Nair was able to score a tap in after the left back number 2 Aashish Lalge was able to cut in from the left. At half time the score remained 1-1.

The second half saw both the teams go on the front foot for the winner. But none of them could capitalise on each others mistake. In the dying minutes of the second half Mumbai FC’s number 10 Prince had a chance to score the winner from  a freekick but it was brilliantly saved by the Air India keeper. At fulltime the teams were deadlocked at 1-1 and the finale would be decided on penalties.

For Mumbai FC: Dhurwesh Nijap, Raj Gurav, Prince Anandraj, Digvijay Yadav and Yogesh Kadam all successfully scored their penalties while Qais Khan’s penalty was saved by the keeper.

For Air India :Aashish Lalge, Vinod Pandey, Gautam Medikonda and Pravin Mali score their penalties whereas Andrew Silva and Charmel Delmeida missed their penalties which proved costly for Air India.

Yogesh Kadam’s penalty proved to be the winner that won Mumbai FC U20 The Nitu Mandke Invitation Cup.

The overall tournament proved to be a success as all the teams played in the true spirit of the game. One of the positive points of this cup was that the youth players involved were in majority. A true sign of the amount of talent in our city and most importantly our country. Looking forward to many more tournaments like these.

Football Counter congratulates Mumbai FC U20 on emerging the winners of the Nitu Mandke Invitation Cup 2016

The post Mumbai FC U20 emerge winners of The Nitu Mandke Invitation Cup 2016 appeared first on Football Counter.

Mode Of Competition

1. All the teams in this division will be divided into three group and will play a preliminary on a single league basis.
2. After the completion of the preliminary league, the top two teams from each group will play a play-off league on single league basis.
3. The points gained and goals scored and canceled in the preliminary league will not be carried forward to the play-off league
4. The team standing 1st and 2nd after the completion of the play-off league will be declared the winner and runner-up of the super division league and will be promoted to Elite Division of the 2015

The post MDFA Super Division league Teams 2014 appeared first on Football Counter.