Stanislaus, Bosco enter final

Mumbai, Nov 22: Defending champions St Stanislaus, unfazed by the size advantage enjoyed by the boys from St Francis D'Assisi, Borivli, carv...

Mumbai, Nov 22: Defending champions St Stanislaus, unfazed by the size advantage enjoyed by the boys from St Francis D8217;Assisi, Borivli, carved out a 2-1 win to enter the final of the MSSA-Colgate inter-school u-14 boys hockey tournament at Don Bosco School, Matunga today.

In a rematch of last year8217;s final, defender Carl Mascarenhas and right-out Rohan Thomas scored for the winners in the first half, while Graden Murzello8217;s solo in the penultimate minute narrowed the margin for Assisi.

Hosts Don Bosco were 7-0 winners in the other semi-final against Stanislaus B, comprising u-12 players carrying learner8217;s licences. The losers should feel heartened by their 2-0 win over traditional rivals St Andrew8217;s in the quarter-finals.

Assisi and Stanislaus had split the two inter-school u-14 titles last year, the Donnelly Cup going to Assisi due to the good work done by the Kharekar brothers Rajesh and Rakesh. With Rajesh moving on to the u-16 team, the mantle of centre-half fell on Rakesh, right-out last year.Rakesh was uncomfortable in the new position, often playing too deep in his own half to instrument an attack. Coach Jaswant Singh said, 8220;We had no other option. Unfortunately, Rakesh did not open out, was too frightened.8221; Naturally, the switch also put a crimp in Assisi8217;s offence.

The first goal came in the 13th minute, through a penalty stroke for an illegal check. Carl Mascarenhas made no mistake. Four minutes later, left half Vikram Noronha, who impressed with his ball control, sent a through ball to Jonathan Fernandes at the top of the circle. The keen-eyed Jonathan was wrong-footed, but managed a reverse off balance to Rohan Thomas, who gleefully deflected in.

Graden Murzello should have scored for Assisi in the 22nd minute. He shot wide of a yawning goalpost from less than ten feet away ! Graden made amends in the 49th minute, when he dribbled 25 yards past two defenders and scored.Earlier, Julius D8217;Souza8217;s hat-trick 1st, 2nd, 27th laid the foundation for Bosco8217;s win. Julius is the leadingscorer of the tournament, with 17 goals from five matches.

Results semis: Don Bosco, Matunga 7 Julius D8217;Souza 3, Andre Colaco 2, Afroz Choudhary, Elroy Afonso bt Stanislaus B 0; Stanislaus A 2 Rohan Thomas, Carl Mascarenhas bt Assisi 1 Graden Murzello.

St Joseph8217;s in semis

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St Joseph8217;s, Vikhroli and St Francis Xavier8217;s, Kanjurmarg entered the semi-final of the girls u-14 MSSA-Colgate inter-school hockey tournament at St Stanislaus8217; School today. While the Kanjurmarg team prevailed 3-2 over Durello Convent, St Joseph thumped Holy Family, Chembur 4-1.

Results QF play-off: St Francis Xavier8217;s 3 Shweta Sugdhare, Pallavi Bhillare, Harshada Labde bt Durello Convent 2 Chriselle Pereira 2; St Joseph8217;s, Vikhroli 4 Reena Salian 2, Hazel Correa, Alisha Marques bt Holy Family 1 Khyati Solanki.

Dolours score

A brace by Allwyn Lasrado and some strong defence under the bar by Melwyn Naronha saw Dolour8217;s United beat Brother8217;s Sports Club, 2-0, in a Division IV, pool Bmatch of the BHA League at Khalsa College today.

Other results: Bombay Republicans 7 Vivek Gupta 3, Jayesh Jadhav, Baptista D8217;Souza, Mahesh Lokhande, Bittu Shigroha bt Khalsa Gymkhana C 1 Shahnawaz Choudhary.