Stanislaus’ sweet sixteen retain u-16 Div I title with emphatic victory

MUMBAI, JULY 28: St Stanislaus coach Cyril Gabriel's `dream team' defended their Under-16 first division title in the MSSA-Colgate inter-...

MUMBAI, JULY 28: St Stanislaus coach Cyril Gabriel’s `dream team’ defended their Under-16 first division title in the MSSA-Colgate inter-school football tournament at Azad Maidan today. Stanislaus bested St Mary’s ISC 4-1 in a final the losers would do well to erase permanently from their random access memory.

Don Bosco, Matunga took third place after defeating poor finishers St Francis D’Assisi 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out.

A double title beckons St Stanislaus, as they entered the Under-14 first division final with a 1-0 verdict over Don Bosco, Borivali. They meet St Francis D’Assisi, who prevailed 3-2 over St Mary’s SSC in a tie-break, in the final on Friday.

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The Stanislaus U-16 team van blew a tyre on the way to the final, but no bad omen was going to stop a side that has been virtually invincible over the past five years. In fact, the main point of debate was not if Stanislaus would win, but by what margin. Their camp shared the same confidence — coach Gabriel said that after watching St Mary’s inthe semi-final on Monday, he had assured his boys that victory would be theirs.

Stanislaus started with a strong south-eastern wind helping their progress. The St Mary’s defence held on gamely in the first half, with full-back Karan Fernandes, the most impressive of the lot, the pillar of resistance. When the citadel fell, it was due to no fault of the defence.

Left out Yohann Pereira’s indirect free kick beat the Mary’s ‘keeper, and the ball, striking the post dipped in. There it met Stanislaus full-back Jonathan Fernandes’ head, and Gavin Aguiar’s thigh, before settling snuggly into the goal.

It was after the change of ends that St Mary’s goose got cooked. A long defensive clearance by Stanislaus into the St Mary’s half reached Karan, with Stanislaus forwards Kyle Mascarenhas and Yohann Pereira looking for the error. Karan, instead of consigning the ball to the sidelines in the direction of the tennis courts, tried to dribble past Kyle. He lost the battle, and Kyle put it ahead for Yohann Pereira tomake it 2-0. It was Yohann’s eighth goal of the tournament.

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The Stanislaus juggernaut was rolling, and Kyle got into the act with a delectable solo. Having cut past three defenders, he chipped the ball into the right corner to make it 3-0.

Stanislaus were lucky to get the fourth, centre half Gavin Aguiar’s opportunistic kick brooking no response from the hapless St Mary’s custodian.

Gentleman that he is, Gabriel prevented any further bloodshed, replacing seven of his first eleven to give all the substitutes a piece of glory. Mary’s pulled one back, through subsitute Mohit Nariani, who outpaced young defender Nikhil D’Souza.

Kyle, Player of the match

Olympian SS Narayan named centre forward Kyle Mascarenhas, wearing the No 10 jersey, as his player of the final. `Babu’ Narayan said Kyle scored a brilliant goal, set up another, and proved a constant threat to the defence.

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Apart from Kyle, Babu was impressed with three players: Gavin Aguiar, Yohann Pereira and Jonathan Fernandes.

TALENTWATCH

Gavin Aguiar

School: St Stanislaus

Standard: X

Coaches: Cyril Gabriel (football), Leo Dharmai & Hyacinth Cardoz (hockey)

Positions: centre-half & defender.

Achievements: A very mature player. Represented state in hockey. Prefers hockey to football.

Favourite players: Rivaldo (football), Bovelander (hockey)

Yohann Pereira

School St Stanislaus