Matunga school edges out St Andrew’s (Bandra) by identical 1-0 margins to clinch U-14 and U-17 titles while Bandra college trumps St Xavier’s 2-0 to emerge U-19 champions
Don Bosco’s Daksh Kochare (left) is chased by St Andrew’s Shaun Rodrigues during the DSO inter-district U-17 hockey final at Churchgate on Tuesday. Pics/Atul Kamble
Don Bosco High School (Matunga) clinched a spectacular double, winning the boys U-14 and U-17 titles at the District Sports Office (DSO) organised inter-disctrict hockey tournament at the Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd (MHAL) turf in Churchgate on Tuesday.
The Matunga boys defeated formidable opponents in St Andrew’s High School (Bandra) and St Andrew’s College (Bandra) in the U-14 and U-17 finals respectively with an identical 1-0 scoreline.
U-14 DSO champions: Don Bosco High School (Matunga)
The U-14 final was a nail-biter. The Bosco boys did well to execute an early strike. Just two minutes into the encounter, a powerful hit from Rezin David was deftly deflected into the St Andrew’s goal by Naitish Jadhav. It was part of Don Bosco coach Javed Sayed’s plan — to start aggressively and put the opposition under early pressure.
This strategy was mirrored by the school’s U-17 outfit too. Jay Topiwala came up with some fine individual brilliance, dribbling past the St Andrew’s defence and goalkeeper Dhruv Correia to slot home in the second minute of the match.
U-17 DSO champions: Don Bosco High School (Matunga)
“We had it clear in our heads. We play aggressively and score early and then keep the pressure on them,” Jay later told mid-day.
The fact that the school has a dedicated full size hockey turf at their Matunga premises always helps, says U-14 midfielder Naitish. “It’s great that we have an artificial hockey turf in our school itself so we don’t need to head out for practice anywhere else. We train with our senior teams daily and that has helped us do well in this competition,” said Naitish.
U-19 DSO champions: St Andrew’s College (Bandra)
Later in the day, St Andrew’s College (Bandra) clinched the boys U-19 title with a 2-0 victory over St Xavier’s College (Marine Lines).
After a tight, goalless first-half where the St Xavier’s boys showed some strong defensive discipline, the Bandra boys hit back in the second session.
On resumption, St Andrew’s broke the deadlock soon after, with Kevin Wala converting off a penalty corner in the 26th minute. Then, even as the St Xavier’s side reorganised their defence and planned a series of attacks in search of the equaliser, the Andrew’s boys scored again. With two minutes left for the final whistle, Mikhail Miranda doubled the advantage with a neat tap-in to seal a deserving 2-1 victory for his team.
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