MSSA hockey: Kyle, Shaad, Sean power Stanislaus into U-14 hockey final

St Stanislaus' Sean Gonsalves (left), Shaad Sayyed (centre) and Kyle Justin are all smiles yesterday. PIC/SURESH KARKERA

Two crucial assists from Kyle Justin powered St Stanislaus High School (Bandra) into the final of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA)-organised St Andrew's Challenge Shield league-cum-knockout U-14 boys hockey tournament. St Stanislaus beat Don Bosco (Matunga) 'B' 2-0 in the first semi-final at the Naigaon Police Ground in Parel yesterday. Shaad Sayyed (24th minute) and Sean Gonsalves (36th) made full use of the perfect passes from Kyle and scored for St Stanislaus. The Bandra outfit went all out from the start and even secured two back-to-back penalty corners in the first half but the Matunga outfit's defence stood tall.

Dominant Stanislaus
In the second session, St Stanislaus reworked their strategy and controlled the pace of the game well, finding gaps in the Don Bosco defence. The Bandra school got a breakthrough when Kyle carried the ball down the right flank and hit it towards Shaad, who was standing near the post, and had to merely deflect it into goal.

The build-up to the second goal also saw Kyle move well before hitting the ball into the striking circle, this time towards Sean, who was positioned in front of the Don Bosco goal, for an easy tap in. St Stanislaus will play Don Bosco (Matunga) 'A' in the final tomorrow. In the second semi-final yesterday, the Matunga lads beat Domnic Savio (Andheri) 4-0 thanks to a brace by Harsh Naik and a goal each from Justin D'Souza and Aryan Jhunjhunwala.

Carmel of St Joseph win
Meanwhile, in the Fr Donnelly Challenge Cup league-cum-knockout U-14 girls semi-finals, Divya Pithava's strike saw Carmel of St Joseph School beat Convent Girls (Dadar) 1-0, and St Elias (Khar) beat St Theresa's (Santacruz) 2-0, with a goal each from Aradhana Jadhav and Madhvi Mhatre.

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