Rustomjee sail past Lakshadham 4-0 into semis

Rustomjee goalscorer Vedika Kulkarni (centre) shoots past Satwika Kanady (right) of Lakshadham while Niharika Kamble looks on at St Francis D’Assisi ground in Borivli yesterday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Churning out a fairly convincing performance but hardly being tested in this playoff fixture, Rustomjee Cambridge International (Dahisar) secured their passage into the semi-finals of the girls under-16 first division in the MSSA inter-school football tournament.

Rustomjee defeated Lakshadham (Goregaon) 4-0 after leading by a solitary goal at half-time in the opening match of the day at St Francis D'Assisi ground, Borivli, on Tuesday.

Short-statured Vedika Kulkarni netted a brace while the tally was completed by captain Harshini Iyer and Alisha Mehta for the Dahisar school.

Also Read: Four-time Mumbai Marathon winner Sudha Singh hails maiden bronze feat in 2015

Placed in the top half of the draw, a tough semi-final await Rustomjee as they would meet the winners of the match between reigning champions AVM (Juhu) and St Lawrence High School (Borivli), which will take place today in the morning session.

Enjoying the bulk of the possession and constantly probing the opposition's defence with their attacking raids, Rustomjee, despite an early lead, were unable to translate their field superiority to the scoreboard in the first half.

Even after change of ends, Rustomjee continued to control things completely but managed to widen their lead with three goals. Captain Harshini, apart from scoring, had a good overall game in midfield as she kept the attack busy.

Another playoff match scheduled for today will witness Bombay Scottish (Mahim) battle it out against Thakur Public School (Kandivli) for a place in the semis.