A determined Bank of Baroda staged a gallant fight to overcome Karnatak Sporting Association (KSA) by a fighting 2-1 margin in an absorbing semi-final match of the Mumbai Football Association (MFA) Nadkarni Cup football tournament 2023, at the Neville D’Souza ground, Bandra.
The Karnatak outfit started on a positive note and ace striker Sanchit Shetty who has been in consistent scoring form provided them the lead with a strike in the 25th minute.
But, Bank of Baroda canceled out KSA’s lead when Sameer Padvi netted the equalizer in the 36th minute and the two teams went into the break on level terms at 1-all.
Midway through the second period, Denzil Mascarenhas scored Bank of Baroda’s second goal, which they managed to hang on to emerge victorious and progress to the final.
In a Third Division encounter, Kalina Strikers defeated Mumbai Strikers ‘C’ by a clear 4-1 score line. The Kalina side scored through Omkar Bhawan’s twin strikes and one each from Bevan Galbano and Jaydeep Panarkar, while Mumbai Strikers scored through Vinit Patil.
Earlier, in a Reliance Foundation Development League (Regional Qualifiers, Mumbai Zone) match Avaneesh Kamath lone goal helped Reliance Foundation Young Champs overcome India Rush Soccer Club by a narrow 1-0 margin.
Results – Nadkarni Cup (semi-finals): Bank of Baroda 2 (Sameer Padvi, Denzil Mascarenhas) beat Karnatak SA 1 (Sanchit Shetty).
MFA Elite (Corporate) Div: Reserve Bank of India
Century Rayon
Third Div: Kalina Strikers 4 (Omkar Bhawan 2, Bevan Galbano, Jaydeep Panarkar) beat Mumbai Strikers ‘C’ 1 (Vinit Patil).
RF Development League: Reliance Foundation Young Champs 1 (Avaneesh Kamath) beat India Rush Soccer Club 0.