In the semi-finals, Indian Navy defeated Central Bank of India (CBI) 5-4 on penalties, whereas, Western Railway edged past Mumbai Strikers 1-0, courtesy of Lineker Machado’s strike which set up an Indian Navy and Western Railway final, yet again.

Indian Navy started off brilliantly. They could have scored within five minutes itself when Lalchhumawia found Hari Krishna with a pinpoint long ball, the latter setup Bipaka Thapa who hit his effort just wide of the right-hand side post.

Four minutes later, the defending champions finally opened the scoring through Britto PM. The number 9 superbly lobbed over Western Railway Goalkeeper Jagroop Singh to put Navy in front.

A few minutes later, Lalchhumawia setup Hari Krishna who made no mistake as he slots past Jagroop to make it 2-0 inside the first twenty minutes of the final. The holders went into the break with two goals advantage.

In the second-half, Western Railway dominated their counterparts for the first ten minutes. They soon cut short the deficit through Somi PT’s deflected goal. Striker Reuben D’Souza rolled the ball towards Lineker Machado whose powerful shot was saved by Vishnu V.K, only to fell in Somi’s path. The midfielder deflected shot went past the hapless goalkeeper as Western Railway finally scored.

But Navy came back strong. Britto PM assisted Benno which made it 3-1 just before Biplab assisted Sarbjith Singh to increase their lead by three goals. Western Railway started to crumble in front of a brilliant Indian Navy side.

The fifth and final goal was, unfortunately, an own goal when Western Railway’s defender Raju Singh found his own net.

In the end, it was Indian Navy who comprehensively manage to defend their title. Their 4th title in last five editions. For his spectacular performance, Navy’s Britto PM was adjudged as the player of the tournament.

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Over 16 teams participated, 8 from MDFA Elite Division and the rest 8 from MDFA Super Division. Here is the round-up of Round of 16 and Quarter-Finals.

Round of 16:

Central Bank of India 1-0 Kenkre FC

In a match which featured both the Elite Division teams, Central Bank of India (CBI) produced a disciplined performance to register a 1-0 narrow victory over Kenkre FC. Arbaaz Kapadia’s sublime strike proved enough for CBI.

Mumbai Customs 0-0 Sellebrity FC (Customs win 5-3 via penalties)

We saw an end to end game when Mumbai Customs locked horns against Sellebrity FC in Parel. Both the teams defended quite well to take the match into the penalties where Customs edged Sellebrity FC 5-3.

Century Rayon 3-0 Young Boys

It took Century Rayon absolutely no extra efforts when they faced Young Boys. Winner’s brace was followed up by Warchuipi as Century Rayon defeated Young Boys 3-0.

Mumbai Strikers 0-0 KSA (Mumbai Strikers wins 6-5 via penalties)

The first upset of the Tournament came when a strong KSA side lost out to Mumbai Strikers 6-5 on penalties in a closely contested final.

Indian Navy 4-1 Millat FC

In a one sided affair, defending champions Indian Navy defeated Millat FC 4-1. Bibake Thapa scored twice, whereas, Akash Kamble and Shahir S. scored one each. Meanwhile, Aniket scored the lone goal for Millat FC.

Union Bank of India vs GM (UBI get bye as GM failed to turn up)

Western Railway vs Mumbai Muslims (Western Railway get bye as Mumbai Muslims failed to turn up)

HDFC vs Air India (HDFC get bye as Air India failed to turn up)

Quarter-Finals:

Mumbai Strikers 1-1 HDFC (Mumbai Strikers wins 5-3 via penalties)

In the quarter-final clash, Mumbai Strikers overcame HDFC 5-3 via penalties after the match ended 1-1 after normal time.

Ravish D’Souza and Siddharth Puthran had scored for Mumbai Strikers and HDFC in normal time, respectively.

UBI 0-1 Western Railway

Keristan Chris’ lone goal was enough as Western Railway once again booked their place in the last four of Independence Day Cup at St. Xavier’s Ground, Parel.

Indian Navy 0-0 Century Rayon (Indian Navy wins 5-4 via penalties)

After a thrilling encounter, it was holders Indian Navy who cruised into the last four when they edged past Century Rayon 5-4 on penalties.

Central Bank of India 0-0 Mumbai Customs (CBI wins 5-4 via penalties)

Mumbai Customs’ fine run ended when they lost out to CBI on penalties after the match ended goalless in normal time.

Teams qualified for Semi-Finals: Indian Navy, Central Bank of India, Western Railway and Mumbai Strikers.

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