Don Bosco, Cathedral storm into MSSA under-14 final

Campion’s Hitesh Bhatiya (left) is tackled by Don Bosco’s Adair D’Souza during their semi-final at Cooperage. Pic/Sameer Markande

Don Bosco (Matunga) and Cathedral & John Connon (Fort) recorded contrasting victories to set up a clash in the boys' under-14 Div-I final of the MSSA inter-school football tournament.

Don Bosco, riding on the brilliance of Adair D'Souza, who struck two fine goals, got the better of Campion School (Cooperage) by a clear 2-0 margin.

Earlier, in the first semi-final, the Cathedral lads showed solid fighting qualities as they rallied from an early deficit and scored two quick goals in the final 10 minutes to overcome St Paul's (Dadar) 2-1 at Cooperage on Thursday.

St Paul's started in positive fashion as Manthan Walke found the back of the Cathedral net to give his team the lead as they went into the break with an advantage.

However, in the second half, Cathedral showed more attacking intent and managed to score the equaliser through Rayees Surti in the 31st minute. Seven minutes later Rian Uniyal scored the winner as Cathedral confirmed their place in the final.

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Meanwhile, Campion were impressive initially as they put up a good fight, but a sudden lack in concentration and a slip at the back cost them dearly as Vignesh Chettiar with a short through pass put Adair in the clear. Adair controlled the ball, moved to his left and coolly placed it past Campion goalkeeper Sumer Singh in the eighth minute.

Seven minutes later Adair showed his class with a clinical finish. He chased a long aerial pass by teammate Keegan Peres and deftly lobbed the ball over the onrushing Campion goalkeeper Sumer for the second goal.

Don Bosco seemed content with the two-goal lead as they did not go flat out, but ensured they defended resolutely to deny the Campion attackers from scoring and also ensuring their own passage into the title round.

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