Mumbai Customs rallied back strongly from a one-goal deficit to overcome a 10-man Central Railway 4-2 in a closely fought semi-final clash of the Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) RCF-Nadkarni Cup Football Tournament,being played at the RCF Sports Complex ground,Chembur on Tuesday. The railway outfit were reduced to being a man-short after defender Robin Joseph was red-carded for a second bookable offense midway through the second session. Hekmat Singh,Francisco Salin,Mathias Coutinho and Vaibhav Karpe scored a goal each to ensure Customs' passage to the summit round,where they will face the marauding Dudsal FC outfit. Karim Shaikh struck a goal in each half,the first from the penalty spot,for the railway outfit. Both teams started off on a positive note and went on the offensive from the opening whistle. As a result,the fare dished out was quite exciting and there was plenty of action at both ends. Central forged ahead in the 17th minute when Karim Shaikh successfully converted a penalty. But,Customs fought back well and managed to draw level through Hekmat Singh,who capitalized on a lapse by the rival defense and goalkeeper Pradeep Kumar in the 30th minute before Francisco Salin atoned for his earlier misses,when he finally found the back of the net in the 42nd minute to help Customs snatch the lead. Central squandered a golden opportunity to restore parity when Allwyn Dyanprakash failed to convert a penalty in the second minute of additional period of the first-half. Result Mumbai Customs 4 (Hekmat Singh,Francisco Salin,Mathias Coutinho,Vaibhav Karpe) bt Central Railway 2 (Karim Shaikh 2).
