Super sub Jain ends Bosco's football reign

MUMBAI: Bombay Scottish A's super sub Bhavya Jain's last minute strike ended Don Bosco A's (Matunga) five-year reign at the top of the under-16 boys' Division I in the MSSA Mumbai Indians annual interschool football tournament at the Cooperage on Wednesday.
The Scottish, who won 2-1, will now play St. Lawrence (Kandivali) in the final at the same venue on Friday.
Lawrence defeated St. Francis DÁssisi by a similar margin in the second semis of the day. Scottish has always managed to trump Bosco over the last few years.
But the league format had always allowed the former champions an escape route. The introduction of the knockout format this year, however, saw Bosco falling short.
Coming off the bench with five minutes to go and the scores reading 1-1, Bhavya, the IX standard student of the Mahim-based school, got his first touch with barely few seconds left.
A cross from Aryan Singh landed right in front of him and the 14-year-old made no mistake, tapping the ball in, to the delight of his teammates. It was Bhavya's second goal as a substitute in six games this season. "He had scored in a similar situation against St Mary's in a league clash earlier," said Scottish coach Adib Kenkre.
Earlier, Bosco had taken the lead through skipper Bryce Miranda in the 8th minute, but a 29th minutes strike by Parth Damani saw parity being restored.
"The ground was too heavy," Bosco coach, Leslie Machado said after the match. "It affected the running of our players and took a toll on their stamina," he added while referring to the newly laid artificial turf on which the youngsters were playing for the first time.
"It did affect my game," admitted Bosco's mainstay Rahul Swamy, who had an indifferent season unlike last year when he was adjudged man of the tournament.
Results: Under-16 boys': Div-I (semifinals): Bombay Scottish 'A' (Mahim) 2 (Parth Damani, Bhavya Jain) bt Don Bosco 'A' (Matunga) 1 (Bryce Miranda); St. Lawrence (Kandivali) 2 (Ishan Rana, Krish Adhikari) bt St. Francis D'Assisi (Borivali) 1 (Pratik Shah); Div-II semifinals (at MSSA Ground, Azad Maidan): St. Dominic Savio (Andheri) 2 (Calvin Baretto 2) bt Navy Children School (Colaba) 0; St. Joseph (Wadala) 4 (Bishnu Bohra, Rocky Fernandes, Tej Boharo, Kavan Napanda) bt Swami Vivekanand 0; At St. Xavier's Ground Parel: IV-B: D G Khetan Int. 3 (Raj Vastani, Dishit Jain, Hitesh Singh) bt SVKM JC Parekh Int. (Parle) 1 (Arya Pawar); IV-C: CNM School (Juhu) 3 (Neil Busa 3 hattrick) bt St. John the Evangelist (Marol) 0.