MSSA football: Three cheers to St. Andrew's

St Andrew's winger Zeeyan Nevrekar scores his second goal against Campion School ‘B' during the MSSA under-16 Division III inter-school football tournament at Azad Maidan yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Zeeyan Nevrekar's brace coupled with Maven Makwan's goal helped St Andrew's [Bandra] thrash Campion School 'B' [Cooperage] 3-0 during the Mumbai Schools Sports Association [MSSA]-organised inter-school under-16 Division III football tournament at Azad Maidan yesterday.

Campion failed to bring out their A game, allowing the Bandra outfit to dominate proceedings right from the start. St Andrew's were extremely strong with their attack and so was their strategy.

Zeeyan, who controlled the right wing, struck for Andrew's in the 13th minute. Standing close to the opposition goalpost, he took full advantage of a good assist from his skipper Nestor Mascarenhas, and managed to pelt the ball into the nets.

Swift Zeeyan
It took Zeeyan less than 10 minutes to find his second goal in the 22nd minute. The wily winger, who was left unmarked near the centre, received the ball from Maven Makwan. Zeeyan then made a dash to the opposition goal without any able defenders to tackle him and scored.

At half-time, St Andrew's were 2-0 and had a good grip on the match. After switching sides, Campion's morale was extremely down. They were outplayed in every department. The Bandra team looked to capitalise further. In the 42nd minute, the third goal was scored by defender Maven. It was actually Nester, who tried his luck to go for a goal just outside the post, but his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Zane Antia, who failed to get a hold of it. Seeing the opportunity open to score, Maven was gifted with an open opportunity and he didn't disappoint.

After the match, Zeeyan was glad his side didn't take the opposition lightly. "I am very happy with this win. Our team's goal is to reach the final. Campion is a good side and we did not take them lightly at any point in the game. I am glad that I received full support from my parents and school, which is why I can play freely and score for the side," Zeeyan told mid-day yesterday.

St Paul's bt Aditya Birla 5-0
Meanwhile, in another Division III clash, St Paul's High School [Dadar] outplayed Aditya Birla [Tardeo] 5-0. Cornelius Rodrigues scored a fifer for the Dadar team. In another contest, DYPA [Dadar] won 3-1 against Hiranandani Foundation School [Powai]. For DPYA, Jayaditya Panicker, Suyash Kamtekar and Rahul Sharma scored, while the lone goal for the Powai outfit was struck by Yuvraj Kholi.

Dhirubhai Ambani International School [Bandra] won 1-0 as Armaan Vardhan scored against Bombay International School [Babulnath].