Rhino horn ahead of Naval Dockyard

The sturdier Dockyard players managed to take the early possession of the ball. But unlike the club8217;s name, the seemingly agile and quicker Rhinos proved more than a match for their formidable rivals.

Left-half Satyawan Sawant put the local club into the lead in the 23rd minute. Collecting a Ajay Rohekar cross to the centre, Sawant just about managed to slam the goal as the ball deflected in after hitting the horizontal bar.

Apart from this odd miss, the Dockyard defence always looked the better of the two sides, their opponents looked the better outfit thanks to their tactical play and accuratepassing.

Being a goal-down, the Dockyard players failed to impress, missing out on numerous occasions. And as time seemed to be running out, Dockyard left-half Patrick came up with the beauty of a goal8211; a 30-yarder left-footer which went curling into the far end of the Rhino post.

Dockyard could have managed to avoid the unnerving tie-breaker routine had it not been for a miss which came just a minute earlier. Patrick came up with a superb solo attempt right across the ground, to pass it to brother Anthony who only had custodian Namdeo Kesarkar to beat. But in trying to put the ball over Kesarkar8217;s head, Anthony only managed to hit the ball over the post.

But this was not a one-off case as Dockyard erred on numerous occasions and ultimately paid a heavy price for it.

The tie-breaker again saw Rhinos get the upperhand when Dockyard8217;s Shirish Chinchghare offered a sitter hitting the ball at waist height right into custodian Kesarkar who padded the ball with ease.

Custodian Dibya Maiji kept Dockyard8217;shopes alive when he managed to blank a grounder, diving to his left, much to the agony of Rohekar and Rhino.

With 5-all in the tie-breaker, hings boiled down to sudden death. Rhinos Ashish Bhoir made no mistake with his shot but Dockyard8217;s Sebastien Caldeira much to his horror found the ball ricochet from the horizontal bar to give the Rhino fans who had come out in large numbers, a chance to invade the field.

The other scorers for the winners were Amol Khaire, Ali Shaikh, Sachin Garate, Rakesh Devlekar, Utpal Kadam and Probodh Salvi.

Those to strike successfully for Dockyard included the George brothers 8212; Augustine, Patrick, Anthony 8212; Lancer Mendonca and Mario Caldeira.

Rhinos will now take on winner of the other semi-final tie between DBYC A and Bandra Packers.