Colaba Municipal Secondary School (Colaba) produced a strong, fighting performance to overcome a spirited challenge from NSS Hill Spring International School (Tardeo) 2-1 in the boys' U-16 Division-III quarter-final match of the MSSA inter-schools football tournament, at the Neville D'Souza Ground in Bandra yesterday. In a keenly-contested match between two evenly-balanced outfit, the fare dished out was quite exciting as both sides played an open attacking game. Hill Spring wrested the initiative with an early strike when Jahan Kapadia scored from a snap effort in the fourth minute.

Ganesh restores parity
Stung by that setback, the Colaba schoolboys regrouped to take the fight to the rival camp. They did not take too long to restore parity as eight minutes later, Ganesh Sirigiri provided the perfect assist for Jay Rathod to connect home. Hill Spring were a bit more dominant after changing ends and created better chances, but they could not capitalise from the opportunities. The Colaba school who managed a couple of counterattacks did well to snatch the lead in the 37th minute.