Exhibiting plenty of resilience and great character PIFA Colaba ground out a close 4-3 win against HDFC Bank in a thrilling first round match of the 110th RCF-Nadkarni Cup football tournament, organized by RCF Sports Club under the aegis of MDFA and played at the RCF Colony ground, Chember on Friday afternoon.
Players from PIFA Colaba (orange) and HDFC Bank are seen in action during a first round match of the 110th RCF-Nadkarni Cup football tournament.
In a match of fluctuating fortunes the Colaba side were well-served by Elvis Dias who scored a brace of goals and one each from Tejas Raut and Hemant Meher to snatch a tight win and book their berth in the quarter-final round. The HDFC Bank outfit, trailing 0-2 at the break put up a determined fighting display in the second period but fell short as they could only score three goals and had to make their exit for the tournament.
Meanwhile, Western Railway failed to turn up for their first round match against Kenkre FC Under-19. The railway outfit is away participating in a tournament in Chhattisgarh. The young Kenkre have been awarded a walkover and will meet PIFA Colaba in the next round.
There will be no RCF-Nadkarni Cup matches at this ground on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, Mumbai Customs meet Central Railway at 1.30 pm and Central Bank of India clashed with Mumbai FC Under-19 at 3.30 pm.
Results (1st round): PIFA Colaba 4 (Tejas Raut 36th, Hemant Meher 45+1st, Elvis Dias 68th, 85th) beat HDFC 3 (Fabian Fernandes 61st, Ketan Kalgutkar 70th, Leray Almeida 87th).
Kenkre FC Under-19 walkover Western Railway.