Dr Antonio D’Silva stun St Stanislaus in semis

Dr Antonio D’Silva’s goalkeeper Omkar Bhube dives to make a save during the shootout v St Stanislaus yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Riding high on goalkeeper Omkar Bhube heroics under the bar, Dr Antonio D'Silva High School, (Dadar) edged out St Stanislaus High School (Bandra) 4-2 in a thrilling tie-breaker and secured a spot in the final of the MSSA boys' U-16 Junior Aga Khan inter-school hockey tournament at the Don Bosco High School (Matunga) on Thursday.

St Stanislaus took an early lead with Ethan D'Souza scoring in the 14th minute, closing the first half 1-0 in their favour. After the break, Dr Antonio D'Silva's relentless attacks bore fruit when they were awarded a penalty corner in the 27th minute. Skipper Neel Bhalekar converted the opportunity to level the match 1-1 at the end of regulation time.

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In the penalty shootout, Omkar stood tall for Dr Antonio D'Silva. While Priyanshu Vichare, Aamod Ghadge, and Salman Khan successfully converted their penalties, Omkar's brilliance denied St Stanislaus' Skye D'Costa, Zidane Fernandes, and Rudra Sarmalkar.

In the other semi-final, Don Bosco High School, (Matunga) cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Children's Academy, Malad. Skipper Arnav Khot shone with a stellar hat trick, steering his team into the final.

Pranit Naik coach of Dr Antonio D'Silva said, "I realised that my strikers couldn't finish well, so I moved a couple of my defenders to play forward. I'm glad it paid off."

Later in the day, in the MSSA girls U-16 K G Kalantri semi-finals, St Teresa Convent High School (Santacruz) defeated Gokuldham High School (Goregaon) 4-0, while Duruelo Convent High School (Bandra) beat Don Bosco High School (Borivli) 2-0.