Utpal Shanghvi stun Don Bosco in U-16 Div-II final

Utpal Shanghvi Global School celebrate with the winners trophy at Cooperage ground, Colaba, on Sunday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Utpal Shanghvi Global School (Juhu) snatched a tense 8-7 sudden death victory against Don Bosco High School (Borivli) in an engrossing boys under-16 Div-II final of the MSSA inter-schools football tournament, at the Cooperage football ground, Colaba on Sunday. The match finished in an exciting 1-1 draw at the end of normal time.

Both Utpal Shanghvi and Don Bosco played positive, attacking football and the match witnessed plenty of goal-bound action at both ends. The Borivli boys relied more on individual brilliance as they overdid the dribble and often lost possession to timely tackles from the rival defenders.

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On the other hand, Utpal Shanghvi lads perfectly carried out the instructions of coach Umesh Shamraj as they worked in tandem to launch counter-attacks into the rival territory. In the second session, skipper Anamay Arora twice provided perfect passes for Shaunk Shah, but he was unlucky to miss scoring on both occasions.

Earlier, Don Bosco's captain Jaden Alex opened the scoring with a brilliant 25-yard chip over the hands of an advanced Utpal Shanghvi goalkeeper Arsh Kataria in the 14th minute. Utpal Shanghvi restored parity when Shauray Sahay pounced on a half chance to slot the ball home in the 20th minute.

The second half failed to produce a goal and in the tie-breaker Utpal Shanghvi scored through Shaurya, Anamay, Laksh Shah, Nirvaan Singh Nagi, Rudra Vejani, Jaiditya Jain and Arnav Goyal. Don Bosco managed to convert through Jaden, Rishi Jain, Devesh Jadhav, Zayne D'Souza, Saket Gorade and Ashley Thoras.