Campion script Don Bosco's downfall

Considering Campion (Cooperage) had not beaten champion outfit Don Bosco (Matunga) in half a decade before, they would not have been expecting too much from their MSSA inter-school U-16 Div I league match against the Matunga outfit at Azad Maidan yesterday. However, they left no stone unturned in planning for the all-important encounter. And eventually their strategy to mark key Bosco players -- skipper Floyd Pereira, midfielder Janam Mehta and striker Merick Fernandes -- paid off perfectly as they came up with a 1-0 stunner to upset the defending champions.


Campion's Roin Punjabi (left) scores against Don Bosco (Matunga) during
their U-16 Div I tie at Azad Maidan yesterday. PIC/ BIPIN KOKATE

Campion striker Roin Punjabi scored the all-important goal in the first session, after which the Cooperage boys held on to the lead as well as Bosco's key playmakers right up to the final whistle to hand Don Bosco their first defeat of theu00a0 season.

Campion coach Alex Wilfred Alva was overjoyed. "We hadn't beaten them in a very long time and knew they were in for a hat-trick of titlesu00a0u00a0 this year. But we desperately wanted to win this one and so studied their players in advance by watching their previous matches," Alva told MiD DAY.

Goal-scorer Roin was on top of the world. "Scoring against them is like a dream come true," he said.

Don Bosco must now win their remaining two matches,u00a0 against St Stanislaus and Bombay Scottish, if they are to retain the title. Coach Leslie Machado is optimistic.

"Some of the boys came here straight after giving their mid-term exams, so that's theu00a0 only excuse I can offer. But we will go all out in the next two matches," he said.

Results: B-16: St Stanislaus 'A'
2 (M Khilnani, R D'Mello) bt St Mary's SSC 0; St Dominic Savio 1 (D D'Souza) drew with St Joseph's (Wadala) 1 (A Kanekar); NSS Hill Spring (Tardeo) 3 (V Rohaan 2, Khandelwal) bt Swami Vivekanand (Kandivali) 0