Don Bosco (Matunga) underlined their dominance in Mumbai schools football by completing the double as they defeated Cambridge School (Kandivli) 2-0 to win the Ahmed Sailor boys’ U-16 title in the MSSA inter-school football tournament at Cooperage on Friday. Earlier this month, the Matunga boys had beaten St Stanislaus (Bandra) 2-0 to win the U-16 Div-I final.
Huge achievement
“This win, to complete a double, is a big thing for us, our coach Leslie [Machado] sir and our parents, who have been supportive right from the time we started playing for the school in the U-8 team since 2008. Never before has this team won either the MSSA league or this knockout tournament. So, it’s a first for this bunch. We did finish runners-up and even won third place, but winning both, the league and Ahmed Sailor, is a very big victory,” Don Bosco’s dependable striker Yohaan Panjuani, who has scored 14 goals in MSSA competitions this season, told mid-day.
“I’m confident that we can continue to win next season as only four players will be passing out this year. That means our core will be intact,” he added. Don Bosco dominated play and their attackers made a series of runs towards the Cambridge goal, but all attempts went in vain as they were hasty or wayward with their shots and the first half ended goalless.
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On resumption, Don Bosco continued to call the shots and finally tasted success with five minutes to go for the final whistle. Dead-ball specialist Arya Kamble from the left side of the box drilled in a perfect chip to the far corner of the net, giving the Cambridge goalkeeper no chance.
In the final minute, Don Bosco got their second goal when versatile striker Panjuani volleyed home from the top of the box, following a Cambridge defender’s hastily headed clearance. Gokuldham finish third Earlier, Gokuldham HS (Goregaon) defeated St Joseph’s HS (Wadala) 1-0 in the third-place match. Prolific scorer Premshankar Singh netted Gokuldham’s all-important winner.
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