The Official 7’s was a tournament where you play 7v7 games. The tournament legs were played in Mumbai and Delhi, where the teams played league matches first, followed by knockouts. The top two teams from both the cities then get a chance to play the finale’s in Delhi, and UK United were the runners up in the Mumbai leg.

UK United faced arguably the best team in the league in the finale, the Goal Hunters. “We had a very tough opponent in the finals, named Goal Hunters, as they were very experienced and balanced with some good I-league players and also an ISL player. But this didn’t hamper our focus and dream to play in Istanbul, we were confident, and ultimately we got the result”, said team captain Shravan Shetty.

The final game was a very tight match where both the teams scored three goals till the end of the second half, and then in penalties, UK United won by 3-1. “I’m speechless, and I can’t describe this feeling. We have played and won a lot of tournaments over the years, but this one was extraordinary! We lost the Mumbai leg finals to Time Avenue, but we didn’t lose hope. We went to Delhi at our own expense and showed everyone what we are capable of,” said the UK United’s (Uncle’s Kitchen United) team owner Mr Ronnie Dsouza.

Mr Dsouza established this team 12 years ago, just became of his love for the sport. He also runs a restaurant in Mumbai named Uncle’s Kitchen since 1987. Talking about his team, he said, “I’m very lucky to have these bunch of players who are extremely talented, mannered and humble. I always believe that this team can win every tournament because the efforts they put in is tremendous! But winning or losing is just a part of the game; what matters personally is efforts.”

After winning the tournament, UK United gets a chance to go to Istanbul and play a league and friendlies with Turkish teams, a dream come true for the players and their owners. “International exposure is going to be a tremendous morale booster for the lads. It’s a dream come true for all of us to win this and go to Istanbul. We look forward to playing many more international tournaments if we get some good sponsors.”

The entire team, Mr Dsouza and the staff are excited about their upcoming tour to Istanbul and wish to continue their amazing winning streak!

For Trial related updates: Latest trials updates in Mumbai Football

Also Read: Amidst rumour of interest from Japan, Apuia signs for Mumbai City FC

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The post Photo gallery: Our Lady Of Health Rink Football Tournament 2015-16 appeared first on Football Counter.

The Tournament kicked off two weeks back on the 23rd of November, 2015 where a huge number of 64 teams participated in order to win the glittering trophy and lucrative prizes.

Some of the best players from all over Mumbai showed up for this renowned Tournament and thoroughly display some eye pleasing skills, moves and of course terrific goals which saw a huge number of spectators gathering up at Our Lady Of Health Church at Versova.

Out of the sixty-four teams participating only four teams made it to the Final day of the Tournament. They were MYJ, Xavierites, Apollo FC and UK United.

The first semi-final was played between Xavierites and MYJ, where the latter won 3-1 to progress into the Final.

MYJ’s Tyson opened the scoring earlier in the first-half, before Suraj Bhagat made it 2-0 to ease off the pressure. In the second-half Suraj Bhagat doubled his tally and increased MYJ’s lead to three goals with a fine strike.

Although Xaverites’s Artyon pull one back in the end, it was MYJ who booked their place in the Final of  Our Lady Of Health Rink Football Tournament 2015-16.

The second semi-final saw two of the best teams of the Tournament facing each other, UK United and Apollo FC.

UK United comfortably won 2-0, courtesy of Patrick Mascarenhas and Danny’s goal. Apollo did gave UK United a tough fight in the early stages of the match, but they didn’t managed to cope against a fast UK United side.

The deadlock was broken late in the first-half when substitute Patrick Mascarenhas made a quick impact after tapping in his effort into the goal. Soon, UK United’s Danny doubled their lead to set a Final berth against a strong MYJ side.

Prior to the Final, there was two exhibition matches which was played among young children and the other one among the ones who made this Tournament happen which is believed to be the tradition of Our Lady Of Health (Versova).

Rather being a exciting and thrilling Final showdown, The match between UK United and Apollo proved to be a one sided affair. UK United comprehensively got the better of MYJ with a 5-0 thrashing.

Danny opened the scoring early in the match from a delightful ball by star midfielder Srikant. Minutes later, Srikant once again proved to be the provider as Danny increased UK United’s lead to two goals.

UK United then scored their third and fourth goal in the space of 3 minutes through Patrick Mascarenhas and Srikant.

Patrick Mascarenhas scored his second and UK United’s fifth to win the prestigious Our Lady Of Health (Versova) Rink Football Tournament.

For his brace and impressive performance, UK United’s Patrick Mascarenhas was awarded with the Man of the Match award.

Winner – UK United, Runners up – MYJ and Fair Play Award – KVB.

Prior to the Trophy presentation, UK United’s head Ronnie said: “I would like to thanks Our Lady Of Health (Versova) for inviting us to participate this Tournament. In the previous editions we made it into Quarters, Semis and winning it this year has proved to be incredible.”

“Congratulations to MYJ. They are a great team. The Final was more like a Family affair.” he added.

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The tournament in its latest format was the idea of 3 teenagers— Anas Shaikh, Ishaan Rizvi, and Dhairen Tohliani—with the aim to provide the best possible environment to play football and to eventually be able to contribute to changing face of football in Mumbai. The tournament was held on the 23rd & 24th August, 2014, at the New Footbrawl Turf, Lions Municipal Sports Complex, Near Milan Subway, Santacruz (W).

It was a two day event, 5 a side, full of excitement, 30 teams, healthy rivalry among local teams, artificial football turf were all the key elements of The Starburst Football tournament. The urgency level to score a goal as soon as you can brings the excitement in such 5 a side football tournament, within 20 minutes of play you have to prove that you are better than your opponent to advance further in next round. Reuben Dass, manager of Bombastic Rockies bought enough talent in his team to outplay the other teams . And his side kept up to their level, as Bombastic won “The Starburst Football Tournament” after beating Uk United by a solitary goal in the final.

The tournament was highly successful as more than 30 teams had participated from all over Mumbai and 1 from Lonavala. The sprit and the hungriness to score goals and won matches keeps the engagement intact. Following are the teams included – Bombastic, UK United, IKON FC, Millat FC, Anonymous FC, Rizvi Ceramics, Falcon Brothers FC, Kalina Village Club, Red Phoenix, D’Boys, Ball Busters, Mean Machine, Macabi, Gopal Seasiders, Outsiders, SMRC, Campos Boys, Manori United FC, Lonavala FC, Hard Rock Café, Mackenzie, Rising Boys, Khar Genesis, Minione Warriors, Avey Maria, Pioneer FC, Zig Zag Boys, Hinduja FC, Cantonians, and Weekenders.

Below are a few highlights of the tournament:

Quarter finals:
Rising Boys vs Millat FC (Score: 2:3 penalties)
Bombastic vs Ball Busters (Score: 4:1)
Mean Machine vs Rizvi Ceramics (Score: 3:0)
UK United vs IKON FC (Score: 3:1)

Semi-finals:
Mean Machine vs Bombastic (Score: 3:1 ).
UK United vs Millat FC (Score: 0:0 at FT and 4:3 after 6 penalties).

Finals:
Bombastic vs UK United 1:0
Winners : Bombastic, with the cash price of Rs. 20000
Runners-Up : UK United, with the cash price of Rs. 10000

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