Ruhaan shines for Fort school

Cathedral & John Connon (Fort) scorer Ruhaan Dhaul after their MSSA U-16 Div-I win over St Paul’s High School (Dadar) at the St Francis D’Assisi ground, Borivli, yesterday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Cathedral & John Connon (Fort) and St Paul's High School (Dadar) were engaged in an engrossing tussle for supremacy. But the former riding on Ruhaan Dhaul's first-half goal from a free-kick managed to snatch a tight 1-0 win in a Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) boys U-16 Div-I Group ‘C' match at the St Francis D'Assisi High School ground, Borivli, on Tuesday.

First defeat for St Paul's

This was Cathedral & John Connon's second successive win following their huge 6-0 victory over Smt RSB Arya Vidya Mandir (Juhu) last week.

For St Paul's, this was their first defeat as they had beaten St Mary's SSC (Mazagaon) 3-1 in the previous game.

Cathedral with six points in their kitty, occupy the top spot in this group. St Paul's and Arya Vidya Mandir, who had defeated St Mary's 3-0 earlier, have three points each. They meet in the final group match on Saturday.

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Attacking football

The match was a lively contest as both teams played an open attacking game from the outset.

The attackers of both sides made optimum use of the dry ground conditions and stitched together neat passes to make inroads towards the rival goal. But their shots lacked direction or were easily handled by the goalkeepers.

However, St Paul's goalkeeper Simen Madhta, who otherwise had a good day under the bar, was surprisingly beaten as he misread Ruhaan's 25-yard free-kick just before the interval. The 'keeper was off his line and could only watch as his valiant effort to parry the ball sailed over his outstretched hands and dipped into the net.

St Paul's tried to search for the equaliser in the second period, but all their attempts were dashed by the rival defence and goalkeeper Shayan Parekh, who made some timely saves.

Kohli nets for D'Assisi

Earlier, hosts St Francis D'Assisi High School (Borivli) made a successful start as they managed a narrow 1-0 win against Holy Family (Andheri) in a Division-III ‘A' league match.

Substitute Sego Kohli scored the crucial goal in the 33rd minute which enabled the Borivli lads to emerge victorious.