Kalina Rangers ‘A’ emerged champions after they snatched a tense 8-7 sudden death tie-breaker win against Macabi Amboli in an absorbing Men’s Open final contest of the Catholic Gymkhana Rink Football Tournament 2019. The tournament is being conducted under the auspices of the MDFA.
The victorious Kalina Rangers players receive the Late Darryl Crasto Memorial Trophy from Chief Guests M.M. Somaya and Joaquim Carvalho at the prize distribution function.
The summit clash was a thrilling affair as both teams played a fast-paced attacking game and the match finished in a 3-all draw. In the penalty shootout tie-breaker duel the scores were again tied at 4-4 and in the sudden death Jason Miranda missed for the Amboli side before Scott Moraes succeeded in scoring to seal Rangers win.
The goal-scorers for Rangers were Scott Moraes who scored three goals while Craig D’Souza and Tyson Pereira scored two goals each and Rayyan Sheikh got one. For Macabi Amboli, Merich Fernandes netted two goal while Kirsten Gonsalves, Shaun Menezes, Jason Miranda, Gourav Jadhav and Danzel Fernandes all chipped in with one each.
The Chief Guests, Olympians M.M. Somaya and Joaquim Carvalho presented the Late Darryl Crasto Memorial Trophy and cash award of Rs 25,000 to the champions Kalina Rangers. The Amboli side received the runners-up trophy and a casp prize of Rs 20,000 from Somaya and Carvalho.
Earlier, Kalina Rangers produced a five-star performance and blanked Autonomous SC by a convincing 5-0 margin in the first semi-finals. Striker Rayyan Sheikh led Rangers charge with two goals while Tyson Pereira, Sachin Rawat and Dan Dias, all contributed with a goal each to round off the winning margin.
In the second semi-final, Macabi Amboli scored two late goals to get the better of Sellebrity FC by a 2-0 scoreline. Merich Fernandes scored the first goal from a goalmouth scramble and later tapped in an open net following a misunderstanding between the Sellebrity goalkeeper and a defender.
Results – Men’s Open (semi-finals): Kalina Rangers ‘A’ 5 (Rayyan Sheikh 2, Tyson Pereira, Sachin Rawat, Dan Dias) beat Autonomous SC 0.
Macabi Amboli 2 (Merich Fernandes 2) beat Sellebrity FC 0.
Men’s Open (finals): Kalina Rangers ‘A’ 8 (Craig D’Souza 3, Tyson Pereira 2, Scott Moraes 2, Rayyan Sheikh) beat Macabi Amboli 7 (Merich Fernandes 2, Kirsten Gonsalves, Shaun Menezes, Jason Miranda, Gourav Jadhav, Danzel Fernandes) via the tie-breaker. Full-time: 3-3.