Stanislaus blame refree for 2-2 draw against St Mary's

Stanislaus coach Roy Fernandes

St Stanislaus 'A' (Bandra) blamed a decision from the referee for their 2-2 draw against St Mary's SSC (Mazagaon) in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) boys U-16 Division I tie at Azad Maidan yesterday.

Stanislaus opened the scoring after Johann Almeida lobbed the ball into the net (25th minute). In the second half, referee Ravi Pandey awarded St Mary's a corner, thinking the ball had gone out when it was in fact very much inside the line.

Daniyal Ansari scored the equaliser and 10 minutes later St Mary's skipper Athar Ansari put his side 2-1 ahead with a solo effort. Stanislaus' Sohan Yelve netted the equaliser in stoppage time to ensure both teams shared points.

Referee Pandey later admitted his fault. "MSSA have not cut the grass around that corner. Even the line markings were not clear, so I couldn't see if the ball was in or out," he said.

Stanislaus coach Roy Fernandes was livid: "Besides that corner and the grass, there is some work going on at the side and that's a hindrance for the players. A kid may get injured."

MSSA football secretary Sebastian Fernandes said that the grass cutter would arrive soon and assured that the line-marking will be done. About the ongoing work, he explained: "We are preparing a seating area for spectators. It will be completed soon."

Other results
B-U-16-I: Bombay Scottish 'A', Mahim 1 (Divyam Chabra) bt Christ Church, Byculla 0; St Francis D'Assisi 'A' 1 (Siddhant Shetty) bt Don Bosco A, Borivli 0; Cathedral & John Connon, Fort 8 (Jaden Irani 5, Arhan Thaker 2, Agrim Solanki) bt Smt RSB Arya Vidyamandir, Juhu 1 (Chirayu Chhajed)

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