Pius get the pie
Sayed Roshan
Brilliant Rahul fires St Pius to MSSA Div III title with 3-1 win over Thakur Vidya Mandir.
Rahul Johny scored one and set-up another to decide the Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) U-16 Div III final 3-1 in favour of St Pius at Cooperage yesterday.
The Mulund outfit failed to hold onto the lead for long as Thakur Vidya Mandir’s Pankaj Tiwari put one past St Pius goalkeeper Darshan Bandal just seven minutes later. But it did not take long for St Pius, who heavily dominated the tie, to regain their lead. Two minutes after conceding, Mclean Fernandes pounced on a defensive error to send St Pius 2-1 up. Rahul ran Thakur Vidya Mandir’s defenders ragged for the remainder of the match, before setting up the third goal for Himashu Nautiyal on a platter. In acres of space, Nautiyal only had to direct the ball into the goal after Rahul beat his man before finding him in the box in the last minute of the game.
St Pius coach Carlton D’Souza was critical of his team’s first half showing, but could not stop singing praises for his star striker Rahul. “I was sure that if the first goal was scored, then the rest would come easily. They took time to settle into the game and missed several chances in the first half, but in the second they managed to do much better. Rahul Johny is a very talented player, who has the potential to play for India in the future,” said D’Souza.
Rahul admitted he was feeling the nerves of playing in such a big match. “In the first half I was under pressure, and failed to score. We made many mistakes, but in the second half we worked on our mistakes and struck three goals,” Johny heaved a huge sigh of relief.
But there was no relief for Thakur Vidya Mandir coach Lawrence Bing who was struggling to hide his emotions after the game. “I can just say that it was their day, and they proved they were the better side,” inconsolable Bing said with a lump in his throat.
Results
Under-16-Div-III (Finals): St. Pius ‘X’ (Mulund) (3) (Himashu Nautiyal 1, Rahul Johny 1, Mclean Fernandes 1) Beat Thakur Vidya Mandir (Kandivli) (1) (Pankaj Tiwari 1)
Under-16-Div-III (Third Place): Smt. RSB Arya V. M. (Juhu) (2) (Aahan Mishra 1, Arindam Mukherjee 1) Beat Hansraj Morarji (Andheri) (1) (Abhishek Valiyakath 1)
Brilliant Rahul fires St Pius to MSSA Div III title with 3-1 win over Thakur Vidya Mandir.
Rahul Johny scored one and set-up another to decide the Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) U-16 Div III final 3-1 in favour of St Pius at Cooperage yesterday.
After a string of close chances in the first half, Rahul finally broke the deadlock in the 35th minute. In one fluent move, he latched onto a perfectly weighted through ball from skipper Abhishek Bhagat outside the penalty area, dribbled past the last defender and gently tapped the ball into the back of the net.
The Mulund outfit failed to hold onto the lead for long as Thakur Vidya Mandir’s Pankaj Tiwari put one past St Pius goalkeeper Darshan Bandal just seven minutes later. But it did not take long for St Pius, who heavily dominated the tie, to regain their lead. Two minutes after conceding, Mclean Fernandes pounced on a defensive error to send St Pius 2-1 up. Rahul ran Thakur Vidya Mandir’s defenders ragged for the remainder of the match, before setting up the third goal for Himashu Nautiyal on a platter. In acres of space, Nautiyal only had to direct the ball into the goal after Rahul beat his man before finding him in the box in the last minute of the game.
St Pius coach Carlton D’Souza was critical of his team’s first half showing, but could not stop singing praises for his star striker Rahul. “I was sure that if the first goal was scored, then the rest would come easily. They took time to settle into the game and missed several chances in the first half, but in the second they managed to do much better. Rahul Johny is a very talented player, who has the potential to play for India in the future,” said D’Souza.
Rahul admitted he was feeling the nerves of playing in such a big match. “In the first half I was under pressure, and failed to score. We made many mistakes, but in the second half we worked on our mistakes and struck three goals,” Johny heaved a huge sigh of relief.
But there was no relief for Thakur Vidya Mandir coach Lawrence Bing who was struggling to hide his emotions after the game. “I can just say that it was their day, and they proved they were the better side,” inconsolable Bing said with a lump in his throat.
Results
Under-16-Div-III (Finals): St. Pius ‘X’ (Mulund) (3) (Himashu Nautiyal 1, Rahul Johny 1, Mclean Fernandes 1) Beat Thakur Vidya Mandir (Kandivli) (1) (Pankaj Tiwari 1)
Under-16-Div-III (Third Place): Smt. RSB Arya V. M. (Juhu) (2) (Aahan Mishra 1, Arindam Mukherjee 1) Beat Hansraj Morarji (Andheri) (1) (Abhishek Valiyakath 1)
