Opportunistic strikers Khushal Makwana and Harsh Sawak capitalised on the chances that came their way to score a goal each which proved crucial for St Francis D'Assisi (Borivli) in clinching a hard-fought 2-1 win against a determined St Pius 'X' (Mulund) in a tense and absorbing boys' U-16 Div-I-D league match of the MSSA inter-school football tournament at Azad Maidan on Saturday.

Neel Kadam scored to keep St Pius in the fight, but later, poor finishing and a crowded D'Assisi defence denied them from scoring more goals as they ended up on the losing side. The three points earned from this victory boosted D'Assisi's points tally to seven and lifted them to the top of the group. St Pius and Dominic Savio (Andheri) finished with four points each, but the latter with a better goal-difference of plus-one as compared to nil of the Mulund team, claimed the second position. Hence, D'Assisi and Dominic Savio qualified for the quarter-final play-offs.