The match ended goalless in normal time as both the outfit canceled out each others’ intensity and tempo.

Rizvi College came into this match after their semi-final exit against the hands of K.C College, whereas, Siddharth College had to suffer defeat against Pillai’s College.

Both the team took the time to settle into the game with the first genuine chance came in the 20th minute.

Siddharth College’s Rohan Pagdhare put a pin-point cross to Parth Trivedi who failed to control the cross and hit it wide.

A few minutes later Rizvi College too came close to score. Sanchit Bhatt shot came agonizingly close as it sailed over the bar.

In the 33rd minute, Rinaldo Fernandes bullet shot was saved by Akshay Pardesi which was equally a brilliant save. Rizvi dominated the rest of the first-half and kept on pressurizing Siddharth College’s backline.

With two minutes left in the first-half, Rizvi’s Craig D’Souza long range shot hit the upright of the post which was quite a fantastic strike.

Sushant Jadhav and Rohan Pagdhare had a fine game for Siddharth College. The duo combined to create a number of chances but their vulnerability in the final third started to haunt them.

Both the teams hold their nerves in the last fifteen minutes to take the match into penalties.

In the penalties, only Mrunal (Siddharth College), Astle Pereira (Rizvi) and Jeriah Prasad (Rizvi) managed to score, whereas, rest of the penalty takers missed their chances. In the end, it was Rizvi College who grabbed the 3rd place.

The post Rizvi College finishes third in the University College Football Tournament appeared first on Football Counter.

In the first semi-final of University College Football Tournament, a determined Pillai College of Arts, Science and Commerce side overcame Siddharth College of Commerce, Arts, and Science 2-1 to enter the final in hope to defend their University title at Sports Pavilion, Marine Lines.

Last year’s star player Mohammad Ishaq scored the opening goal in the second-half to put Pillai College in front before Sushant Jadhav leveled the score for Siddharth College with a sublime strike against the run of play.

Pillai College dominated the match proceedings after Sushant tied the score, and came agonizingly close thrice to restore the parity in the first semi-final. The breakthrough came moments later when an own goal by Siddharth College put Pillai in front which turned out to be the decisive goal.

In the second semi-final of University College Football Tournament, K.C College, and Rizvi College put up a great display of football where both the colleges had to be separated through penalties where K.C edged Rizvi 5-4 in the shootout.

The match finished goalless in normal time. In the penalty shootout, Pratik Jain, Valentine Pereira, Kshitij Kudtarkar, and Shaun Fernandes scored from the spot for K.C, whereas, Ranjan Sudhakar failed to convert his penalty.

For Rizvi College, Astle Pereira, Leander Dharmai, Jeriah Benjamin, and Kenneth Dessena scored from the spot, whereas, Jeten Koli failed to convert his penalty.

The final will be played tomorrow at Sports Pavilion, Marine Lines.

The post Pillai to face K.C in University College Football Tournament Final appeared first on Football Counter.

It wasn’t an easy task for Rizvi’s though, as they had  to fend off a tough opponent in Pillai’s College, in a high scoring final game. The 1st goal came through Rizvi’s talented center half Siddhart Nayak in the 10th minute with a powerful volley from just outside the box, having the lead they settled into the game comfortably and netted the 2nd goal 10 minutes later through Raunak Killinger who slotted home the ball perfectly after Harold Fernandes provided him a pin-point cross along the deck.

Against the run of play Rizvi’s College then conceded a very soft goal, when experienced defender Sandeep Upadhayay and the goalkeeper clashed, going for the same ball. This mistake handed Abhishek Ambekar an easy opportunity to reduce the deficit with a tap in. Pillai’s were looking confident as they went all out in search of that equalizer which could bring them back into the game but a third goal by Sagar Bedekar dented all hopes of a Pillai’s College comeback.

A long throw from Wayne Vaz into the Pillai’s box was cleverly flicked on by Sagar leaving the goalkeeper with no chance. With a 2 goal cushion, Rizvi’s kept their attacks going to increase their lead but were unlucky as their efforts were denied by the posts on several occasions. Despite having been down by 2 goals, Pillai’s never gave up the fight as they scored another goal through Rahul Beke’s header towards the end of the game but the Rizvi’s defence held firm until the final whistle, as the match ended in favor of the Bandra side who remained champions for another year running.

Boasting of some of the most talented young footballers in the city, year after year, it is to be seen if this powerhouse will ever be upstaged at the University level. We here at Football Counter would like to congratulate coach ‘Zakir’ and his players for putting up a superb performance throughout the tournament and defending their University Title

The post Rizvi’s College Undisputed Champions At Mumbai University appeared first on Football Counter.