That miss proved costly as the game edged into its final moments. With just five minutes left, fatigue seemed to catch up with the defending champions
Bombay Scottish players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Ahmed Sailor final in Bandra on Saturday. Pic/Ashish Raje
Defending champions Bombay Scottish School (Mahim) displayed nerves of steel as they retained the boys U-16 Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) Ahmed Sailor inter-school football title via a 4-3 tie-breaker win over Thakur Public School (Kandivli) at Wings Sports Centre, Bandra, on Saturday.
Bombay Scottish, known for their fast-paced attacking game, began aggressively right from the start. Their intent was rewarded when skipper Hridhay Harja’s (10th minute) powerful free-kick was fumbled by Thakur Public goalkeeper Idhant Singh. The loose ball fell to forward Sparsh Shvkaz, who made no mistake and slotted home to give the Mahim outfit a 1-0 advantage. With the lead in hand, Scottish dictated the pace of the game, heading into half-time with
confidence.
After the break, Scottish continued to press, with Sparsh finding space on the counter. He attempted to convert off a long pass, but failed to hit the target, missing the chance to double his team’s lead. That miss proved costly as the game edged into its final moments. With just five minutes left, fatigue seemed to catch up with the defending champions.
Thakur Public, sensing an opportunity here, pushed forward and their persistence paid off when Arnav Singh pounced on a defensive lapse to score the equaliser in the final minute (40th), sending the match into the penalty shootout.
In the tense tie-breaker, Bombay Scottish held their nerve. Sanat Shetty, Rohan Mehta, and Sparsh Shvkaz found the back of the net for Scottish, while only Apurva Sahani and Rishant Jain could convert for Thakur Public.
“It was an exciting game, the boys were outstanding today. We should have finished it in regulation time though,” said Bombay Scottish coach Abdullah Ansari.
Meanwhile, Campion (Colaba) finished in third place with a 2-0 win over St Stanislaus (Bandra). Vivian Kawad and Abner Rodrigues struck a goal each for Campion.
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