Nita Mukesh Ambani Junior girls rout Canossa in final of MSSA inter-school football tournament

The victorious Nita Mukesh Ambani Jr School girls. Pic/Atul Kamble

Riding high on skipper Mahika Praveen's brace, Nita Mukesh Ambani Junior School (Bandra) clinched the girls U-14 Division-II title, defeating Canossa High School (Mahim) 3-0 in the Dream Sports Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) inter-school football tournament at Cross Maidan on Thursday.

The Bandra outfit's aggressive approach paid dividends in the ninth minute, when Esha Jain broke the deadlock with a neat finish to give her side a 1-0 lead, which they carried into the break.

In the second-half, Canossa showed greater urgency and attempted to fight their way back into the contest, but the Bandra outfit's defence
held firm.

Mahika then came to the fore for her side, converting a spot kick in the 27th minute after she was fouled by Canossa's Anabia Lambe. Three minutes later, with just a few seconds left on the clock, Mahika scored her second, after a dazzling solo run which culminated in her dribbling past Canossa custodian Zainab Khan before calmly slotting the ball home to seal a 3-0 win.

Meanwhile, St Peter's High School (Mazgaon) secured third place after edging past Rustomjee Cambridge School (Virar) 4-3 via tie-breaker.

For St Peter's, Ruhab Ansari, Ayesha Khan, Aliza Khan and Kiara Kawala found the back of the net, while only Aaradhya Singh, Raina Singh and Vrishti Phadke were on target for Rustomjee.