MSSA: This is for you, Leslie sir!, says Don Boscos Manan Dang

Don Bosco coach Leslie Machado (second from left), MSSA Jt Secretary Esmero Figueiredo (fifth from left) and other WIFA officials along with the Don Bosco A [Matunga] team pose for pictures with the MSSA U-16 Div I title at Cooperage ground yesterday. Pic

Don Bosco coach Leslie Machado second from left, MSSA Jt Secretary Esmero Figueiredo fifth from left and other WIFA officials along with the Don Bosco -A- [Matunga] team pose for pictures with the MSSA U-16 Div I title at Cooperage ground yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Nihal Dudwadkar-s splendid brace coupled with Nathan Murzello-s goal helped defending champions Don Bosco -A- [Matunga] beat Campion School -A- [Cooperage] 3-0 in the final to retain the Mumbai Schools Sports Association [MSSA]-organised under-16 Division I title at the Cooperage ground yesterday.

Don Bosco skipper Manan Dang was ecstatic with his side-s win and dedicated the title to coach Leslie Machado, who completed 25 years as gaffer of the school this year.

-We played like a family-
"This win is really special for the whole team as this is our last year. We wanted this win for Leslie sir and the school. We played like one big family through this tournament," Manan told mid-day yesterday. Under extremely hot and humid conditions, both teams fought brilliantly as they looked to outplay each other. Don Bosco, adopting a 4-3-3 formation, were passing the ball at good pace. Bosco skipper Manan manipulated his team with ease.

They built their attack with the intent to disrupt the opposition-s defence. Both sides were unable to break the deadlock at half-time.

Switching sides, pressure began to show on both the teams, but Boscos held their nerve and stamped their authority in the match during the last quarter, where three goals were scored in just fifteen minutes.

Nihal Dudwadkar, who plays as a left back for the Matunga side, scored in the 51st minute. Boscos- Lenser Pereira tried to tackle the opposition defence close to the post, but he missed his chance and the ball reached skipper Mannan Dang who was positioned in the right wing.

Seeing Nihal standing extremely close to the goal post, Manan passed it to him and Nihal kicked it into the nets.

Nathan scores
The second goal was smashed by left winger Nathan Murzello in the 58th minute. Lenser was in action again. He was standing near the goal post and tried to go for goal, but the ball went above his teammate, Krishna Karkera-s head and straight to Nathan, who took the shot on his thigh and then attempted a volley which went straight into the net. Nihal scored again in the 60th minute.

This time around, Rohan Fernando, who was standing at the penalty spot, attempted a shot which came rebounded to Nihal. Finding himself not marked by any opposition defender, he pelted the ball into the back of the net.

St Stanislaus come third
Earlier, during another encounter, St Stanislaus High School [Bandra] beat St Francis D-Assisi -A- [Borivali] 2-0 to clinch the third position.

Both teams looked dangerous in the middle, but no goals were scored during the first half of play.

After the lemon break, a tackle between players Hansel Lobo from the Borivli team and Joel Barnes from Stanislaus resulted in a penalty kick awarded to Stanislaus.

Zaeem Dodhiya didn-t waste the opportunity and scored in the 43rd minute. Forward Elvis Vaz shot the second goal in the 56th minute after receiving a good cross from teammate Anish Khaire.

MSSA cancels all matches today
MSSA have cancelled all matches at Azad Maidan due to the Marathi Kranti morcha today. "The deputy director of sports NB Mote gave us information that the Azad Maidan will be under police cover due to the morcha. A lot of people will be present there in large numbers and so there he has advised us to cancel the matches," MSSA football secretary Sebastian Fernandes said.