Gokuldham boys beat Don Bosco ‘B’ 2-1

Don Bosco’s Darshit Seluan of shields the ball from Gokuldham’s Shubham Sahoo (left) in Borivli yesterday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Showing a great degree of spirit and resilience, Gokuldham High School (Goregaon) staved off a strong second half challenge from Don Bosco ‘B' (Matunga) to come through by a narrow 2-1 margin in their boys under-16 second division playoff fixture of the MSSA inter-school football tournament at the St Francis D'Assisi football ground, Borivli, on Monday.

En route to securing their place in the quarter-finals, Gokuldham, against the run of play, scored twice in quick succession during the first half through Shubham Sahoo and Rohit Jadhav. An own goal enabled Bosco reduce the margin later in the second half where they enjoyed the bulk of the possession.

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It was Golkuldham who stunned their opponents mid-way through the first half. Bosco, on the other hand, lacked the sharpness in their attacking play.

Down by two goals, Bosco stepped up their level in the pursuit of staging a comeback but despite having more of the ball, failed to capitalise on chances. The own goal saw them reduce the deficit in the 32nd minute of play.

There was enough time for Bosco to complete their comeback, however here credit is due to the Gokuldham backline, who despite conceding a soft goal, did remarkably well to ward off any further threat.

In the opening match of the day, Holy Family High School (Andheri) had little problems in progressing into the last eight as they secured a comfortable 2-0 win over Holy Cross (Kurla). Dhairya Tank and Rachit Madhav were on target for Holy Family, who were clearly the better side.