Mahindras survive BoI

D’Lima strolled up to take the kick and smashed to Mahindras goalkeeper Gumpe Rime’s right. Rime dived and blocked and even the rebound was wasted.

Had D’Lima been on target, Mahindras, who also have Deryck D’Souza as their coach from this season, would have had a inauspicious start in the league campaign.

Right after the start, Mahindras pushed forward in numbers, but after a few forays it was evident that their attack was mostly building up from the right. Abhay Kumar, as the right winger, was bursting down the flank with speed.

This forced BoI to go on the defensive. When they attacked, it was through counters in the second half.

As early as the 10th minute, Mahindras got their first opportunity. Abhay Kumar beat the BoI goalkeeper, KB Fysal and had only to place it in. But he overran the ball and struggled to get it into position. He also had the option of passing it to left-winger Herbert Philip. Abhay, however, messed it up by shooting wide.

Their next opportunity came 30 minutes later when Herbert’s cross from right gave Khalid Siddique, the right half, a chance to convert a chest-high ball. Siddique’s shot forced a save from Fysal and off the rebound Khalid Jamil booted goalwards. But Navin Kotian hooked the ball to safety.Mahindras, who dominated the passes without being decisive, saw the trend change in the second half when BoI became more and more dangerous with their sudden breakaways.

Chandrakant Poojary, the bustling little forward on the left, gave Mahindra defence more than their share of worries. He, in fact, nearly scored a freak goal when his cross was misread by Rime, who was guarding the first post. As the ball decended, Rime realised it was very close to the goal, but unfortunately for BoI, it bounced just outside the goal and went out of harm’s way.

Furtado also had substitute Shashi Shetty coming close to scoring with a header late in the game. But the best one was the penalty kick. BoI, who suffered a 0-4 loss to Central Railway in the first game, would be happy with the one point they get. Mahindras should count themselves lucky to get a point from a draw… when they nearly lost the game.

In a Colaba Young Star tournament for first divisioners, Versova Village boys defeated Customs Boys 2-0. Kiran Foka and Nandu Tapke scored the goals.National Games camp

TEN players from Air-India and eight from Mahindras dominate the 25-member team that has been invited for camp by the Western India Football Association to represent the state team in the fourth National Games at Bangalore.

The invited players: Rehmatullah, S Muzumdar, Khalid Siddique, Khalid Jamil, Satish Minz, Sanjay Dayal, Abhay Kumar, Herbert Philip (Mahindras); Partha Das, Jeevan Moras, Subir Sinha, Godfrey Pereira, Abbas Ali Risvi, K V Reaz, Khambiton Singh, Radhakrishna Dubey, K Paite, Anthony Fernandes (Air-India), Augusto D’Silva, Asif Jamal (Central Railway), K B Fysal (Bank of India), Vijay Thapa (Union Bank), Nagindra Rawat (Bombay Customs), Xavier Swamy (Ahmednagar DFA), Ilyas (Akola DFA).

Don Bosco win shoot-out

DON Bosco Oratory `B’, Kurla huffed and puffed before upstaging Young Boys Siddarth 3-1 in a shootout in a second round encounter of the Mumbai District Football Association’s (MDFA) Gurunanak Cup tournament at the St Xavier’s ground, Parel, here, today.

Both sides were locked goalless at regulation time. In the tie-breaker, Don Bosco bartender Srinivasan Salve gave a good account of himself affecting three saves which saw his side sail through.

Steven Dias, Mohammed Khan and Bharat Chinkate scored for the winners while Kamlesh Gaikwad scored the only goal for Young Boys.

Earlier, in the ninth minute of play Don Bosco were awarded a penalty after Young Boys defender Anand More handled the ball in the danger zone. However, Young Boys goalkeeper Nasir Sheikh brought off a fine save to deny Anil Zalte and Don Bosco the advantage.