Both the sides headed towards the match on the back of a loss in their opening games. Century Rayon had suffered a narrow 3-2 loss at the hands of Mumbai Customs, whereas, Mumbai Strikers lost 8-1 in their match against the mighty Air India.

Rayon’s Thatcham Vaschi and Warschei Kaschung created numerous opportunities just like they did against Union Bank of India (UBI) in their opening clash. Both the attackers combined well to test Mumbai Strikers’ persistence. On the other end, Mumbai Strikers’ Ravish D’Souza and Akshay Devadiga tried to get behind Rayon’s defense to break the deadlock but only went on to slot their efforts wide.

Century Rayon stepped their game up in the second-half with their typical free-flowing attacking game. The hard-work finally paid off in the 75th minute when Warschei Kaschung scored a sublime goal to break the deadlock as the match was headed towards a stalemate.

Ten minutes later, Century Rayon doubled their lead through Ligin whose goal made Rayon stamped their ticket to all three points and register their first win of the Elite Division.

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Apart from Worchuipei Kashung’s fine hat-trick, Niyaz Patel also got on the scoresheet. Worchuipei’s first goal came in the 11th minute when Sunil Mane assisted him with a fine pass, the number 8 didn’t make any mistake to bury his shot in the back of the net.

Twenty minutes later Worchuipei scored his second goal of the game after Akash Jain send him clean on goal, and the former calmly finished it to make it 2-0. In the second-half, Niyaz Patel made it 3-0 with a stunning strike which was assisted by Zungshopam.

Worchuipei Kashung completed his hat-trick in the stoppage time which was the final goal of the match. The whole game was dominated by Century Rayon but Dena Bank did have a good game too, it was just not their day as Kashung decided to run riot.

Dena Bank’s finishing was poor which was one of the reasons they were not able to open their account.

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Union Bank of India 5-0 West Zone United

A stellar display from Union Bank of India left West Zone United speechless after thumping the Super Division side 5-0 in their one sided clash at St. Xavier’s Ground, Parel.

A goal each by Rohel Shaikh, Leander Dharmai, Vinod Pandey, Mohammad Ishaq and Digvijay Yadav send the Elite Division side into the last eight, which will be played tomorrow.

HDFC 2-0 Century Rayon

Century Rayon suffered a shock defeat as they went down 2-0 against a clinical HDFC side. Jisto Fonseca and Leroy Almeida scored for HDFC which proved to be enough to prevail into the next round.

Century Rayon did played well, but they were not upto the mark in the attacking third which came back to haunt them later.

Air India 0-0 Dena Bank (Air India wins 4-2 on penalties) 

Air India, the giants of Mumbai Football had to go through penalty shootout in order to defeat a determined Dena Bank side.

At the end of the normal time, both the teams were goalless which took the match into penalties, and it was Air India who held their nerves to qualify for the quarter-finals stage.

It was Dena Bank’s goalkeepr Asif Ansari’s brilliant saves and reflexes which kept the score goalless, although Asif failed to emulate the same display in the penalty shootout.

Dena Bank missed two of their penalties, whereas Air India converted all the four penalties with Shravan Shetty scoring the deciding one.

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Reserve Bank of India hosted Century Rayon in the first semi-final of this year’s Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) Division 1 at St. Xavier’s ground, Parel on Thursday afternoon, 17th March, 2016.

Throughout the 90 minutes of football Century Rayon played they had control on the flow of the match, but a lackluster performance in-terms-of passing, decision-making and coming out on-top during one-versus-one situations in the final-third of the pitch cost them a place in the final.

A foul inside the 18-yard-box by Century Rayon’s Manish Mandloi, resulted in a penalty to R.B.I., which Abhishek Ambekar slotted past the trailing Century Rayon goalkeeper in the 40th minute.

Throughout the first-45 minutes of the match, Century Rayon played the role as a dominant side amongst the two teams, but fell-short on a majority of occasions to provide a structure to their attacking play around the opposition’s box.

The timing of the goal by R.B.I. proved to be a bigger blow for Century Rayon than the goal itself as the latter were favorites to progress going into the second-half of the proceedings if Century Rayon had not conceded the penalty.

By the time, Century Rayon gathered itself up, the first-45 minutes had come to a closure. Although, the Rayon’s started the second-half as brightly as the first-half, but having come agonizingly close to scoring an equalizer themselves as they left huge holes to be exploited by R.B.I. on the counter-attack, the former stumbled for the second-time in the 84th minute of the match to let slip-in a decisive second-goal for Reserve Bank of India.

The second goal as a result of a poor first-time clearance from a cross inside the box, which fell to Hriday Sethi inside the box, who half-volleyed the ball into the net to give his side much-needed breathing space as they patiently waited for their opportunities in the tussle, making the most of it, in the process.

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Century Rayon and Sea View locked horns in one of the most crucial encounters in the MDFA 1^st Division group games this season. As mentioned in our previous article this match would be pivotal in deciding the outcome of group C as to which two teams progressed to the play-off. For those of you unaware here’s another update of how the scenario looked like before coming into the match. Carmelites S.C completed all their matches grabbing 19 points and a goal difference of +9. Century Rayon have 18 points with 1 game to play against Sea View with a mammoth goal difference of +17. Whereas Sea View on 15 points with a goal difference of +7 had 2 games remaining, one against Sahayadri KM and this one against Century Rayon.

The match was shifted to Cooperage ground as there was a change in venue which describes the magnitude of this match. The first half kicked off and we were underway for a cracker of a game. Century Rayon charged forward in attack laying out a statement of intent from them to qualify. They dominated possession for majority of the first half. We were seeing a Century side full of intent and they opened the scoring midway through the first half. A long ranger from number 5 Sumit Bhosle bulged the net giving Century Rayon the lead. From then on it was all Century who were high on confidence and doubled their lead when a wonderful ball in the box which deceived everyone including the goalkeeper only for number 9 Shopam Lingleng to guide it in. That was a class goal and was crafted well from start to finish. Sea View had a few meaningful attacks towards the end as Agnelo Fernandes came close to scoring firing the shot straight at the keeper. At halftime the score line read Century Rayon 2-0 Sea View.

The second half was going to be a nerve wrecking one as it would be a true test of Sea View’s character. Century Rayon meanwhile would have to soak all the pressure and defend their lead or go forward and add to their two goal lead. Sea View began the first half on the front foot as forwards Spencer Johnson and Agnelo Fernandes took charge of a Sea View comeback. This Sea View side looked revamped in attack as they surged forward with the ball looking to get something out of it. There was a moment of madness in the middle of the park as Century Rayon’s number 5 Sumit Bhosle was given a straight red card for decent. Agnelo Fernandes missed a golden chance to get his team back in the game making a brilliant run from the right cutting in only to fire over the top. The game dipped on tempo as Sea View’s attempts to get back into the game were thwarted by a resilient Century side who made no mistake despite being down to 10-men. To add to their tally number 17 Thoy Vashum netted a brace right at the end. The third being a goal from the left cutting in and firing past the keeper. Whereas the fourth goal was a spectacular solo goal, going past 3 Sea View players to complete the scoring.

Fulltime score read Century Rayon 4-0 Sea View. So now we have a clear picture of group C. Century Rayon march into the playoffs as tabe toppers with 21 points. Carmelites S.C qualify with 19 points on 2^nd position meanwhile Sea View remain on 15 points with a game to play against Sahayadri KM which now becomes a formality.

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Group C has been the group of heavyweights in the Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA), First Division league. With Carmelites FC who registered a 2-0 win over St Paul’s on Sunday marched into the play-offs with 19 points, Century Rayon and Sea View would have to battle each other for the second place from the group. With both teams of 15 points and having 2 games each left anything could happen.  The second being Century Rayon vs Sea View in the decider.

St Paul’s SC meanwhile bowed out with a total of 13 points. A tally that would have taken them through in any other group. Don Lawson’s frustration with the Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA), committee rightly justified after they failed to make balanced groups . Meanwhile St Paul’s SC had nothing to lose against Century Rayon as they look take some pride and bow out on a high leaving behind their 2-0 loss to Carmelites FC

And they started on the front foot with some lovely intricate passing but failed to convert the few chances that could have given them the lead. It was Century Rayon who managed to go ahead when number 11 Guljar MD fired home a goal from long range completely to St Paul’s surprise. It was Century Rayon who had one foot in the play-offs going into the break leading 1-0

No one saw the 4-0 scoreline coming. And if you have witnessed St Paul’s matches they have not leaked so many goals. But that changed today. Number 10 Manahar Sakia scored the second to give Century a two goal cushion in the 67th minute. Number 17 Thalichan Vasum neeted the 3rd in the 71st minute whereas number 4 Tejas Raut scored the 4th goal of the game in the very next minute i.e 72nd minute. A staggering 3 goals in a space of 6 minutes.

With this win Century Rayon have 18 points with a game to play. An all important game against Sea View who find themselves on 15 points with 2 games to play. The final few games promise to be edge of the seat affairs with the Sea View vs Century Rayon being the highlighted one.

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