Producing another impressive fighting performance St. Rock’s FC did well to hand Regal FC a tense 2-1 defeat in a well-contested Third Division semi-final match of the Mumbai Football Association (MFA) League 2022-2023, and played at the Neville D’Souza ground, Bandra.
A St. Rock’s striker controls the ball as he dribbles past a Regal FC defender during their Third Division semi-final match of the MFA League 2022-2023.
After a barren first session, St. Rock’s grabbed the advantage with striker Sachit Bhanji scoring the first goal of the match in the 37th minute. Regal FC bounced back and managed to draw level five minutes later through Jayesh Arekar’s efforts.
Determined to play for a win, St. Rock’s scored the second goal through the efforts of Vivian D’Souza to regain the lead which they managed to hang on to till the final whistle to clinch a deserving victory and advance to the final.
In the second semi-final, Ground Mechnix SA managed to overcome Sahar Silver Star 3-1 via the tie-breaker after the match finished in a goalless draw. In the penalty shootout, Ground Mechnix SA successfully converted through Adrian Andavan, Karan Kapoor and Shaf Mohammad, while Sahar Silver Star could only convert one through Viraj Pawar and had to bow out.
Result – Third Div (semi-finals): St. Rock’s FC 2 (Sachit Bhanji, Vivian D’Souza) beat Regal FC 1 (Jayesh Arekar).
Ground Mechnix SA 3 (Adrian Andavan, Karan Kapoor, Shaf Mohammad) beat Sahar Silver Star 1 (Viraj Pawar) via the tie-breaker. Full-time 0-0.