Striker Singh nets brace as Cathedral and John Connon (Fort) stun defending champs Don Bosco (Matunga) 2-0 to enter final; AVM (Juhu) beat Don Bosco (Borivli) 1-0 in other semi-final
Arnav Singh of Cathedral and John Connon during the semi-final vs Don Bosco at Bandra on Wednesday. Pic/Atul Kamble
Arnav Singh struck twice as Cathedral and John Connon (Fort) shocked defending champions Don Bosco (Matunga) 2-0 in the semi-finals of the boys U-16 Division-I Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) inter-school football tournament at Wings Sports Centre, Bandra, on Wednesday.
Don Bosco, who are always among the favourites to win the title given their impressive record in the competition, started aggressively, pressing high and creating early chances through attackers Sheldon D’Souza and Avanish Bhaigade. However, Cathedral custodian Arham Agarwal thwarted them with two sharp saves.
A sublime chip
The Cathedral boys then launched the offensive and broke the deadlock (19th minute) with Singh’s delicate chip over an advancing Don Bosco custodian Eshant Nikam.
After the break, Don Bosco continued to push forward in search of the equaliser, but Cathedral remained disciplined in defence. Singh then struck again (39th min), this time with a neat finish into the top left corner to double Cathedral’s lead.
The Bosco boys, however, refused to back down and came close to scoring twice in the final 10 minutes of play. Prajeet Vinayagamurty found himself presented with two clear one-on-one opportunities, but on both occasions, Cathedral ’keeper Agarwal came up with brilliant blocks to ensure his team’s safe passage into the final.
Disciplined performance
Cathedral coach Daryl Samuel praised his team’s disciplined performance. “We kept things simple. The boys stuck to the plan and delivered. One more match to go, and hopefully, we can put in a similar performance,” he said.
On the other hand, Don Bosco coach Leslie Machado felt his side was unlucky. “It just wasn’t our day. We missed several chances and paid for our mistakes. Honestly, we could’ve scored four,” said Machado.
Meanwhile, in the other semi-final, Smt RSB Arya Vidya Mandir (Juhu) edged past Don Bosco (Borivli) 1-0 in a close battle with Rishan Arora scoring the all-important goal in the 39th minute via a free-kick.
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