Little Russel strikes like a viper

St Mary’s SSC, Mazagaon, secured the third place when they beat St Andrew’s, Bandra, by a solitary goal. The all-important goal was scored by Siddheya Tayshetye in the second-half.

The D’Assisi-Stanislaus encounter failed to live upto expectations. The ground was slushy and the ball tended to stop in the many puddles all over the field. As a result, the competition turned out to be an aimless kick-and-run affair.

Both coaches, John Alphonso of D’Assisi and Cyril Gabriel of Stanislaus, agreed that the standard of play was not upto the mark and put the blame on the poor condition of the ground. As a result of this, the teams did not play to their full potential.

Little striker Russel Fernandes, the smallest player on the field, turned hero for D’Assisi when he capitalised on a defensive lapse and booted home the match-winner in the 22nd minute of the 50-minute game.

St Stanislaus had the first chance. Striker Kurt D’Lima delayed with his shot and was robbed of the ball by D’Assisi goalkeeper Sujeet Shett, following a fine goalmouth cross from the right by winger Rohan Thomas.

D’Assisi’s other attempt at goal before their eventual match-winner was frustrated by St Stanislaus goalkeeper Anirban Chakraborty. The ‘keeper neatly tipped over a long range try by D’Assisi’s Denver Pinto.

Stanislaus strived hard in the second-half to restore parity. But the D’Assisi defence, in which Kanishka Chandak stood out, withstood the pressure admirably.

Right-winger Kirk D’Souza looked like consolidating the D’Assisi lead midway through the second-half. But his two consecutive tries from close range were taken care of by ‘keeper Anirban.

RESULTS

Under-14 final: St Francis D’Assisi (Borivli) 1 (Russel Fernandes) bt St Stanislaus (Bandra).

Third place: St Mary’s SSC (Mazagaon) 1 (Siddheya Tayshetye) bt St Andrew’s (Bandra) 0.

Semi-finals: St Mary’s (Kalina) 5 (Shane Masceranhas 3, Vincy Rebello, Rinaldo Coutinho) bt Hindi Vidya Bhavan 0; Holy Family (Andheri) B 2 (Alston Cabrol, Ashwin Patel) bt St Xavier’s (Andheri) 1 (Vinod Rai).