Bank of India(BOI) showed great resilience and strong fighting spirit as they recovered to overcome FC India 3-1 in a Super Division play-off match of the MDFA League 2017-18 and played at the Mumbai Football Arena, Andheri Sports Complex.
The bankers suffered an early setback when Manish K. gave FC India the lead in the seventh minute. But, Bank of India made a strong reply and restored parity through Aishwary Belekar strike in the 20th minute before their seasoned striker Shankar Thakur scored in the fourth minute of additional period in the first half to give the bankers a 2-1 half-time advantage.
Saurabh Dongre netted the third goal in the 70th minute to round of the margin of victory for the bankers.
In another match, HDFC Bank defeated Bombay Gymkhana 2-1. Ramesh Singh scored both the goals for HDFC while Jordan Braganza got the lone goal for the losers.
Both Bank of India and HDFC Bank qualified for the semi-finals.
Results – Super Div (play-off): Bank of India 3 (Aishwary Belekar 20th, Shankar Thakur 45+4th, Saurabh Dongre 70th) beat FC India 1 (Manish K. 7th).
HDFC Bank (Ramesh Singh 68th, 80th) beat Bombay Gymkhana 1 (Jordan Braganza 13th).