St Stanislaus striker Marven dedicates match-winner to late grandmom

St Stanislaus High School (Bandra) had 15-year-old Marven Pereira to thank as his goal helped them beat St Francis D'Assisi High School (Borivili) 1-0 in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) boys' U-16 Div I inter-school football tournament at St Xavier's ground, Parel yesterday.

Marven's grandmother Aurora Pereira

Marven, in turn, was grateful to his late grandmother Aurora Pereira, who passed away recently at the age of 82, for encouraging him to excel in football.

"The inspiration behind my goal today was my grandma, who died a few days ago. She told me to score and get my name in the newspapers and make my family proud. When my name came in the newspaper last year, she was very happy and hugged me," said the forward.

St Stanislaus' Marven Pereira (right) dodges St Francis' goalkeeper Parth Dharod to score a goal during the MSSA inter-school boys' U-16 Div 1 match at St Xaviers ground, Parel yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Marven, who was ever so impressive in the match, wasn't always a striker. "I used to play as a goalkeeper till last year. I have improved my game a lot to play forward."

The Pool 'B' game was one-way traffic for the most part with Stanislaus dominating most of it. Captain Marven scored in the 23rd minute by rounding the 'keeper and taping it in after he received the ball from Vicky Karkada.

St Francis D'Assisi were far from their best. Captain Johnson Mathews was the lone creative spark for the Borivili school. The Stanislaus frontline of Keegan Pinto, Brendan Gomendes and Marven ran the St Francis D'Assisi defence ragged and could have scored more goals for the side.

Stanislaus coach Oscar Alva said, "We actually missed a lot of chances. We could have scored more goals. But I am happy with what I saw considering this was our first game," said Alva.