Champions Bosco eye another title; Stanislaus keen to upset arch-rivals

The Don Bosco (Matunga) U-16 football team during a practice session at their school ground recently. Pic/Kirti Surve Parade

Last year's champions Don Bosco High School (Matunga) and runners-up St Stanislaus (Bandra) are looking forward to another rewarding season as the MSSA inter-school football tournament commences with the boys' U-16 tournament at the St Francis D'Assisi High School ground (Borivli) from Wednesday.

Don Bosco are drawn in a tough Group B along with Cathedral & John Connon (Fort), Campion School (Cooperage), and Bombay Scottish (Mahim). The Matunga lads take on Bombay Scottish in the opening match of the tournament today.

Girls' U-16 to start tomorrow

The competition for girls' U-16 will be conducted simultaneously and will kick-off from Thursday.

Don Bosco's long-serving coach Leslie Machado is confident that his team will extend their reign this season. "We completed a hat-trick of triumphs last season. Though most of the talented players from last year have passed out, the replacements are equally good. I started training the boys from the middle of May. They are fit and ready for action and I know they will live up to my expectations," Machado told mid-day on Monday. Don Bosco won the MSSA title in 2019-2020 and 2022-2023. MSSA did not conduct the tournament in between (2020-2021 & 2021-2022) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Key players missing

St Stanislaus head coach Roy Fernandes wants to put an end to their arch-rivals' dominance, but his plans have taken a setback as two key members of the team - captain Zidane Fernandes (midfielder) and Ethan D'Souza (defender) are traveling to Italy for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and will be away for nearly a month. Dependable custodian Jordan Kamble will wear the captain's armband. Stanislaus are placed in Group C along with St Paul's (Dadar), Don Bosco (Borivli) and St Joseph's (Wadala). "We have a good set of players, who have been practising for over a month and are in good shape. However, the absence of Zidane and Ethan will certainly make a big difference to our performance," said Fernandes.