Ave Maria SC, Dadar and Rebels SC, Bandra emerged champions winning the Men’s and Veteran Men’s titles respectively in the Mount Carmel Invitation Floodlit Rink Hockey Tournament – 2018, organised by the Carmel Sports Committee and played under floodlights at the Mount Carmel Church compound.
Players of the victorious Rebels SC team are seen in a jubilant mood after defeating Air India in the Veteran Men’s final of the Mount Carmel Invitation Floodlit Rink Hockey Tournament
In the men’s final, the Dadar outfit was engaged in a keenly contested battle for supremacy with a spirited Sea View SC before clinching a narrow 3-2 win. In contrast, the veterans’ final between eventual champions Rebels and a star-studded Air India was a an exciting and high-voltage affair with temper running high before the Bandra side managed to win 5-3 against their depleted opponents, who played a major part of the second period with a man short.
The fare dished out from both, Air India and Rebels was explosive and witnessed plenty of goal-mouth action at either end and the first half finished even-steven at 2-all. However, after switching ends, Air India’s illustrious and former Indian defender Anil Aldrin was shown the red card after he hit with his stick Rebels attacker Errol D’Silva on the head, just above the eye. A bleeding D’Silva was rushed to a nearby hospital and received four stitches to patch-up the cut. Despite the handicap Air India did well to take a 3-2 lead before Rebels settled down and got their act together and scored two goals to seal their win.
The highly experienced Solomon Alexander was chiefly instrumental in guiding both Ave Maria and Rebels to victory. Alexander scored twice in Ave Maria success, while Girish Pimpale and Vinay Walmiki got the other two goals. Julius Fernandes, Karan Kapoor and Shelton Carvalho were on target for Sea View. Earlier, Alexander notched a hat-trick of goals to help Rebels overcome Air India, while Errol D’Silva and Enrico Fernandes netted the other two goals to secure their win. Devinder Kumar scored a brace of goals and Darryl D’Souza struck one for the losing side.
Results – Men (final): Ave Maria 4 (Solomon Alexander 2, Girish Pimpale 1, Vinay Walmiki 1) beat Sea View SC 3 (Julius Fernandes 1, Karan Kapoor 1, Shelton Carvalho 1).
Awards – Most Promising player: Smit Devekar (SAISA); Best goalkeeper: Keenan Burroughs (Rebels); Player of the final: Girish Pimpale (Ave Maria); Player of the tournament: Shelton Carvalho (Sea View).
Veteran Men’s (final): Rebels SC 5 (Solomon Alexander 3, Errol D’Silva 1, Enrico Fernandes 1) beat Air India 3 (Devinder Kumar 2, Darryl D’Souza 1).
Awards – Player of the tournament: Enrico Fernandes (Rebels); Best goalkeeper: Edgar Mascarenhas (Air India).