JN Petit in line for triple crown

PUNE, Aug 13: JN Petit have lined themselves up for a rare feat -- a possible treble in the PSAAA football championships with their senio...

PUNE, Aug 13: JN Petit have lined themselves up for a rare feat 8212; a possible treble in the PSAAA football championships with their seniors, juniors and minis making it to the final countdown at the SSPMS Ground here today.

Coached by former Mafatlal player Nandukumar Angirwal, JN Petit8217;s feat 8212; if all goes well with their campaign on Saturday 8212; would be more significant since this is the centenary year of the Poona Schools Amateur Athletic Association PSAAA.

After their seniors rolled past St Joseph8217;s, Ghorpuri, by half a dozen goals, their juniors and minis had a roller-coaster ride over Erin Nagarvala National School Day and Vidya Bhavan respectively before making it to three finals 8212; for the first time in the 100 years of the tourney. Vidya Bhavan, Shri Shivaji Preparatory Military School Boarders and Erin Nagarvala National School Day will clash with J N Petit in the seniors, juniors and minis respectively.

The rain gods who have been very harsh with this tournament seemed to have come to an understanding with the organisers as the knock-outs stage boasted of perfect weather conducive for playing soccer. And on a day when the sun also made it8217;s appearance, the JN Petit seniors made most of it netting thrice in each half to end St Joseph8217;s campaign. Ashwin Jadgale opened the account for the winners in the fifth minute when he volleyed home Manas Rawat8217;s centre from the right wing to give his teammates a hint of the side making the final for the second year in succession. It was a case of missed chances that followed for the next 20 minutes before Manas Rawat netted following a goalmouth melee. Three minutes later Ashwin Jadgale assured that they were just one step behind the title with a long ranger.

With three goals already in their kitty, leaders JN Petit seemed to take things a little too easy as their defenders moved up in a bid to help themselves for individual scorer particularly Sumit Kaddu, who made the mess of the scene.

However, they did make some amends as Rohit Ravindra 45th, Sumit Kaddu 51st and Ashwin Jadgale 59th rounded up their assault.

Their juniors were later in total contrast and just about managed to pip ENNS D by a solitary first half goal. The all important goal was scored by Sailesh Sakpal in the 11th minute. Although the teams accomplished the feat in making the final, their coach Nandukumar Angirwal left a bad taste. His attitude of arguing with the referee Moti John forced several stoppages in the match which was not to the liking of the many present there.

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In the minis semi-final, Vidya Bhavan gave Petit a run for their money before they wound up losers 2-4 via the tie-breaker after playing out a goalless first-half.

Dinesh Gaikwad, Farzad Ampapardiwala, Paras Daruwala and Sagar Mavalikar netted for J N Petit while only Damandeep Anand and Maz Dias were successful for Vidya Bhavan.

Minis: Enns D 3 Abidali Mulla 2, Vijay Kadam bt Sardar Dastur 2 F Shaikh, Anup Kanujia; J N Petit 4 Dinesh Gaikwad, Farzad Ampapardiwala, Paras Daruwala, Sagar Mavalikar bt Vidya Bhavan 2 Damandeep Anand, Max Dias both the matches were deceided via the shoot-out Juniors: J N Petit 1 Sailesh Sakpal bt ENNS D 0; SSPMS B 4 Rahul Patil, Vishal Rajput, Rohan Shukla, Bagah Bagave bt Sardar Dastur 0. Seniors: J N Petit 6 Ashwin Jadgale 3 not a hat-trick, Manas Rawat, Rohit Ravindra, Sumit Kaddu bt St Joseph8217;s. Ghorpuri 0; Vidya Bhavan 3 Venkatesh Iyer 2, Rohit Kamble bt SSPMS D 1 Devendra Dongre.