Valentine Pereira found the back of the net twice to secure an all important win. The number 11 struck his first goal earlier in the first-half with a sweet finish and added another goal on 50th minute, which proved enough for Jai Bharat SC to overcome Kanara Bros SC.

From the first minute itself Jai Bharat SC never looked back and showed a attacking approach, which eventually paid off earlier in the first-half itself when Valentine Pereira’s goal helped Jai Bharat SC to take a deserving lead.

At the back, Jai Bharat SC’s Nikhil Shetty stood like a wall in front of Kanara Bros attackers Akash Jadhav and Vikas Jadhav. Nikhil’s defensive abilities helped him man-marked Akash and Vikas out of the game for majority of the first-half.

On 26th minute, Jai Bharat’s attacking midfielder Roger Sam almost doubled their lead when he managed to squeezed past Kanara Bros defense, but somehow goalkeeper Sai Kohli saved Roger’s attempt to deny Jai Bharat SC their second goal.

The second-half was all about Roger Sam and Valentine Pereira’s eye-pleasing chemistry. The attacking duo who has played alongside each other at Karnataka Sports Association (KSA) last season, re-visited their glorious days after a destructive second-half performance.

Midway into the second-half, Jai Bharat almost scored their second goal when Saumil Damor put his shot just wide off the right hand post from a fantastic Ganesh Shetty’s cross. Chances kept pouring in for Jai Bharat SC, but somehow Kanara Bros defense put them at bay.

With ten minutes to go, Jai Bharat SC finally doubled their lead when a beautiful link-up from Roger Sam and Valentine Pereira saw the latter tapping a low cross into the back of the net to give Jai Bharat SC a two goals advantage.

Five minutes later on the 55th minute, Valentine turned out to be the provider this time when he found Roger with a delightful through ball, who placed his shot into the bottom corner only to see his goal ruled out as the number 13 was just offside.

Valentine was having a field day as he almost bagged his hat-trick when his right footed drive struck the left hand post on the 58th minute. Kanara’s Sunil Rathod was shown his marching orders in the dying minutes which saw Kanara Bros ending the game not only on the losing side but also being a man down.

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Karnataka Sporting Association emerged victorious at a recently concluded tournament at Devlali Nashik, which hosts some of the big teams of Maharashtra and other states. They overcame the mighty Mumbai Customs in nail bitting semi-final match with a 1-0 win. A goal from their Nigerian recruit Ahiri Uche in the first half of extra time proved vital for KSA as they booked their place in the final.

In the finals played on Monday 29th September, KSA were up against a tough opponent in the form of NUPC Aurangabad. An action pact first half saw 3 goals score by each of the teams, it was KSA who opened their scoring through Ahiri Uche, who did well to take the ball in his stride from a throw in, to unleash a rasping shot in the back of the net. Although thier lead was short lived when NUPC came up with a equalizer within 5 minutes of the first goal. KSA did well to fight back and regained the lead towards the end of the first half when their midfielder Sherwyn Chang did all the hardwork to present Ahiri Uche with an easy tap in. NUPC were lucky to snatch a late equalizer in the second half as they took advantage of a lapse in the KSA defense, forcing the game into extra time

Extra time saw quite a cagey game as both teams were looking to deny each other that all important goal. But it was goalkeeper Kishan Sulegai who turned out to be the hero for KSA with 2 outstanding saves in the penalty shootout with Ahiri Uche, Valentine Pereira, Shabbir Ali and Tarique Ansari all converting their penalties as KSA went on to win the final

They also finished with a few honours as Kishan Sulegai was adjudged ‘The Best Goalkeeper’ and Shabbir Ali was awarded ‘The Best Defender’. We here at Football Counter congratulate Karnataka Sporting Association and wish them all the very best for the upcoming season!

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