Dharambir Yadav played a stellar role scoring a brilliant hat-trick to guide Mumbai Customs to a fluent 3-1 win against Mahashtra State Police in a Super Division match of the MHAL League 2017-2018, at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate on Monday evening.
The Policemen rocked the Customs citadel when Mahesh Khambe sounded the boards in the 15th minute. But, Customs made a strong reply scoring twice in a space of eight minutes to take the lead. Yadav hit home the first in the 19th minute and then deflected in the second in the 27th minute as Customs went into the break with a 2-1 advantage. Customs showed more urgency in second period in a bid to increase their goal tally, but they could only manage one more goal with Yadav striking his and the team’s third in the 58th minute.
Customs have enhanced their prospects of finishing as one of the top two teams, who will contest the final. They have finished with 17 points from five wins and two draws and with a goal-difference of plus 11 (goals scored 28 and goals conceded 17) and are currently in first position ahead Central Railway, who have 16 points, but with a match in hand against cellar outfit Sports Authority of India on Tuesday. A draw would suffice for Central as they have a superior goal-difference of plus 17. Indian Navy with 14 points and a match in hand against Mumbai Port Trust are also in contention. Navy who have a goal-difference of plus six (goals scored 19 and goals conceded 13), will have to win by a clear six-goal difference to finish in the top two positions and qualify for the final.
Later in the evening, Western Railway got the better of Mumbai Port Trust by a 5-4 margin. For Western, Manpreet Singh scored two goals (11th and 28th minutes), while Sanklap Raghav (20th min), Rajin Kandulna (21st min) and Jay Karan (67th min) scored one. Mumbai Port Trust got their goals through a brace from Sridhar K. (45th and 52nd minutes), Raju Karan Singh (51st min) and Dhananjay Yadav (68th min).
Mumbai Port Trust goalkeeper Rockson Bosco, who made quite a number of save in the second half and Yadav of Customs won the ‘Man of the Match’ awards in their respective matches and both received a cash award of Rs 1,000 each.
On Tuesday, Central Railway will meet Sports Authority of India at 4.00pm.
Results: Western Railway 5 (Manpreet Singh 11th, 28th, Sanklap Raghav 20th, Rajin Kandulna 21st, Jay Karan 67th) beat Mumbai Port Trust 4 (Sridhar K. 45th, 52nd, Raju Karan Singh 51st, Dhananjay Yadav 68th). MoM: Rockson Bosco (Mumbai Port Trust – goalkeeper).
Mumbai Customs 3 (Dharambir Yadav 19th, 27th, 58th) beat Maharashtra State Police 1 (Mahesh Khambe 15th). MoM: Dharambir Yadav (Mumbai Customs).