JN Petit, Bishop8217;s leave no room for error

PUNE, Aug 2: The lads from Loyola's took defeat like men. There was a tear or two among the under-14 lads but the under-17 side were calm...

PUNE, Aug 2: The lads from Loyola8217;s took defeat like men. There was a tear or two among the under-14 lads but the under-17 side were calm and composed on a gloomy day for the school on the football pitch.

Poised for a double, the school from Pashan played second fiddle to the Bishop8217;s High School in the under-14 final of the district qualifier for the Subroto Mukerjee tournament in New Delhi, losing on penalties at the SSPMS Ground.

Then, hoping to make amends in the under-17 final, Loyola8217;s fought gallantly to reverse a 0-2 deficit but went down 1-2 to JN Petit after coming close to equalising.

Make no mistake, deserving teams won and Bishop8217;s better penalty taking helped them progress to the next round 8212; the Inter-District Division 8212; scheduled for August 7 and 8 at Loyola8217;s School ground.

The scores were 1-1 at full-time and an enthusiastic crowd made up of teachers, parents, brothers, sisters, friends and rivals crowded the sidelines in full-throated cheer.

The boys from the Camp school kept their cool to win the shootout 4-2 when centre-back Gautam Jain crowned a fine display during regulation time with the match-winning conversion.

The tall defender responded well to pressure and coolly booted to the goalkeeper8217;s left before being mobbed by overjoyed team-mates.

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Fire-crackers rent the air when JN Petit went 2-0 ahead and the celebration befitted Srikkanth Gawali8217;s goal.

With his school 1-0 ahead, thanks to Abhijit Owhal8217;s goal, the sprightly centre-forward burst down the middle before shooting home fluently to the delight of the Petit entourage. But spare a thought for Loyola8217;s.

The school egged on by its unrelenting fans turned on the pressure. Within seconds mid-fielder Rahul Shetty bundled in a goal to silence Petit fans. With the minutes ticking by another goal looked likely. But frantic saves by Petit, helped by a friendly bounce on one occasion 8212; and the post on another 8212; deprived Loyola8217;s the equaliser.

Petit coach Nandkumar Angirwal perhaps looked more buoyant than he did after many grueling battles played the length and breadth of the country in his heyday. The former Mafatlal stopper admitted to spending a sleepless night on the eve of the final, working out ways to ensure his team won.

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8220;I told my boys not to worry, play courageously. It8217;s just what they did today,8221; Angirwal enthused. Earlier, Bishop8217;s coach Eugene Pope and manager Ramesh Bhendre coolly praised their boys while excitedly recapping the goal by Rahul Kamble that put their side ahead in normal play.

Kamble blasted home left-winger Ronak Pote8217;s cross to put his school ahead but Loyola8217;s Varun Venkat showed that one needn8217;t have to watch a Zico or Platini to see a well taken free-kick. The centre-back dispatched one high into the net to equalise. Venkat8217;s good work came to naught in the end when the best player on the pitch on the day, Gautam Jain, ended the day as Bishop8217;s hero.