Bandra Gym football report:
A spirited Geostanne SC, Bandra played with solid grit and determination and handed formidable UK United, Malad a stunning 5-4 defeat via the penalty shootout tie-breaker in a Men’s Open pre-quarter-final match of the 25th Bandra Gymkhana Open Rink Football Tournament and played under floodlights at the DeMonte Park Recreational Ground, Bandra. The scores were tied 1-1 at the end of normal play.
The underdogs Geostanne, up against favourites UK United who comprised of several State and Elite Division players, put up a dogged, gutsy display to come out trumps. Nikhil Singh put the Bandra side in front with an early strike, but the experienced Malad side managed to find the equaliser through Harold Fernandes late in the first half. Later, UK United tried their best to break down the resolute Geostanne defence in search of goals, but all their efforts went in vain as the match finished at 1-all and went into the tie-breaker.
In the penalty shootout duel, Geostanne successfully converted through Nikhil Singh, Ajay Manggla, Vicky Manggla and Hemant Rawat, while UK.United could only score from three of their five kicks with Dustin Fernandes, Riddick D and Shanon Pereira finding the target.
Meanwhile, defending champions Joga Bonita and St. Jude SC scored identical 1-0 wins in their respective round of 16 matches. Dan Dias netted the lone goal as Joga Bonita prevailed over Juhu Sports Club and St. Jude rode on Neil Fernandes strike to edge past Mean Machine SC to advance to the quarter-finals.
Results – Men’s Open (pre-quarter-finals): Geostanne SC 5 (Nikhil Singh 2, Ajay Manggla, Vicky Manggla, Hemant Rawat) beat UK United 4(Harold Fernandes, Dustin Fernandes, Riddick D. Shanon Pereira); St. Jude SC 1 (Neil Fernandes) beat Mean Machine 0; Joga Bonita 1 (Dan Dias) beat Juhu Sports Club 0; Hot Steppers 5 (Nitin Gokhale, Yash Panchal, Roney Tellis, Jay Shah, Ankush Mirekar) beat Mighty Young Joe 4 (Jackson Koli 2, Steven Koli, Manish Koli).
Veterans Men’s (quarter-finals): Chinai Veterans 6 (Vijay Anand 3, Kingsley Rebello 2, Rakesh Yadav) beat Central Railway Mumbai Division 3 (Kasif Jamal, Hamid Ansari, Tausif Jamal); Ronnie-7 SC 2 (Glen Moraes 2) beat Golden Gunners 0.
Women’s (semi-finals): Leaders FC 1 (Lian Mathews) beat FC Mumbaikar 0.