Campion's (Cooperage) rode on two free kick goals by Amartya Patel to edge past Swami Vivekanand International (Kandivali) 2-0 and book their place in the Division I play-offs
Escape to victory: Campion boys are over the moon after Amartya's late strike helps them make it to the Div I play-offs. Pic/Atul Kamble
Campion's (Cooperage) rode on two free kick goals by Amartya Patel to edge past Swami Vivekanand International (Kandivali) 2-0 and book their place in the Division I play-offs of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) U-16 inter-school football tournament at Azad Maidan yesterday.
Escape to victory: Campion boys are over the moon after Amartya's late strike helps them make it to the Div I play-offs. Pic/Atul Kamble
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Campion headed into the match with a complex scenario. With 10 points from six games and with a +6 goal difference, Campion were behind St Joseph (Wadala) and Jamnabai in Pool 'A' even before the whistle blew. St Joseph had 13 points from seven games with a +7 goal difference while Jamnabai Narsee (Juhu), who trounced Navy Children 3-0 earlier, had 12 points and a goal difference of +12.
But Jamnabai have a game against lowly placed St Dominic Savio (Andheri) on August 8. So Campion had to win by at least two goals to ensure they finish above St Joseph in the table and not leave it to the outcome of the Dominic Savio and Jamnabai match.
Keeping that scenario in mind, Campion started like a house on fire. Playing a 3-3-4 formation, the Campion boys gave a really hard time to the Swami Vivekanand defence and took the lead in the ninth minute when Amartya Patel's free kick hit the underside of the crossbar before touching the back of the net.
The Cooperage outfit-egged on by their parents-created many scoring opportunities after that but all their attempts were foiled by the Swami Vivekanand 'keeper Neel Dave's brilliance.
The match looked all set for a 1-0 finish and Campion's hopes of reaching the play-offs were fast evaporating. But Campion found a hero in Amartya in the dying moment when his free kick got a wicked deflection and ended up in the net.
Campion coach Wilfred Alva said that he was confident his side would get the two goals despite leaving it too late. "We planned to attack and get the two goals early on and then sit back. Unfortunately that didn't happen. From my experience, 13-14 points are enough with a high goal difference to qualify," said Alwa.
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