HDFC defeated in-form Millat FC 3-0 in the final, courtesy of Titus Uttankar, Leroy Almeida and Blaise Fernandes’ goal. Millat FC’s goalkeeper Anas Shipe had an outstanding campaign where he made a number of tremendous saves to keep his team’s hope alive.

In the semis, Anas spectacularly denied a penalty in the shootout which helped Millat FC to sail past GMSC. His double save in the final against HDFC was applauded by the spectators at the St. Xavier’s Ground.

On the road to final, HDFC defeated Young Boys, Skorost FC and Dena Bank. Their clash against Skorost and Dena Bank was decided on penalties.

Meanwhile, Millat FC defeated Tarun Sporting where they made an astonishing comeback after going 3-0 down at the break. In the next round, they defeated Income Tax and later GMSC to book a berth in final against HDFC.

Besides receiving a glittering trophy, HDFC also received a whopping Rs. 30000-/ cash prize, whereas, Millat FC received Rs. 20000-/ plus a runners-up trophy. Millat FC’s Goalkeeper Anas won the player of the tournament award plus a cash prize of Rs. 3000-/.

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Air India U-19 (Sanchit Bhatt) 1-0 Mumbai Warriors

In the first match, Air India U-19 played Mumbai Warriors in a closely-contested match. After a dull first-half, the deadlock was finally broken in the second-half when Sanchit Bhatt scored from close-range which eventually turned out to be the winning goal.

Both the outfits were wasteful in front of the goal and never looked like scoring once before Sanchit stole the highlight with a well-taken goal.

Dena Bank (Piyush Koli 2 and Arafat Ansari) 3-0 Somaiya SA

In the second match of the day, Dena Bank produced an impressive performance to sail past Somaiya SA 3-0 to qualify for the next round.

Forwards Piyush Koli and Arafat Ansari combined brilliantly to score three past Somaiya. Piyush bagged a brace while Arafat scored one. The latter also assisted twice which rounded off a neat performance.

Skorost FC 0-0 Bank of India (BOI) – Skorost wins 5-4 via penalties

The third match saw Super Division side Bank of India (BOI) facing First Division team Skorost FC. In what turned out to be a huge result, Skorost gunned down BOI 5-4 on penalties to book their place in the next round.

Both the sides missed numerous chances in the normal time. The composure in front of the goal was nowhere to be seen which took the game in the penalty shootout. Skorost kept their cool and edged 5-4 in an emphatic win.

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One of the two regular annual cup events from MDFA – Republic Day Cup, other being Independence Day Cup, will kick off on 25^th January with the final on 26^th January i.e. Republic Day.

This time, 16 teams involving the likes of Air India, Dena Bank, Bank of India and others will be vying for the cup. The eleven side event is one of the few cup events in which lower division clubs get to ply their trade against top teams of the city. The two day event will be directly a Knockout with the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and the Final to be held on the next day.

Held in the honour of late Dr. Nityananda Mandke, one of the India’s finest Heart Surgeon, the tournament was started by MDFA, back in the year 2004, in recognition of his notable contribution to the city as well as country. Mandke was boxing champion, captain of soccer team and a record holding distance runner, during his college days. He was adjudged the best all round student of Pune University during the year 1970.

The Tournament was previously won by Air India U19 side in the year 2017 while in 2016 former I-League team Mumbai FC’s U20 side lifted the cup.

With the schedule of MDFA already in tangles courtesy of record third division teams participants, The Republic Day Cup has been truncated to just two days this time with teams playing a 20 minutes each half. To add more about the technicalities, the match will allow rolling substitutes and in the case of a draw, the match will directly head to penalty shootout.

The schedule for the tournament is below:

Also Read: Veterans Football Tournament to return on Republic Day

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