Community Football Club of India (CFCI) emerged champions winning the Mumbai Football Association (MFA) First Division title. CFCI held their nerves and managed to get the better of Charkop FC 5-4 via the sudden-death penalty shootout in the final played at the Neville D’Souza football ground, Bandra.
The victorious CFCI players
The summit clash between CFCI and Charkop FC was an absorbing contest for supremacy as both sides adopted an open offensive approach. There were several goal-scoring chances created at either end, but the strikers of both teams failed to find the net and as a result the match finished in an exciting goalless stalemate.
The tie-breaker, also failed to break the deadlock as both the teams converted four of their five attempts and the referee had to enforce the sudden death to resolve the outcome of the match. In the tense sudden death CFCI defender Siddheshwar Shinde successfully converted much to the relief of his teammates and help his team clinch a satisfying win and lift their maiden title.
In the tie-breaker, CFCI managed to score through Kshitij Chauhan, Yatish Shetty, Ankit Dalvi, and Ashish Chavan, while Charkop FC converted through Pranav Bhandari, Nihar Deshpande, Aaryan Yadav, and Sagar Gawde.
Result – First Division (final): CFCI 5 (Kshitij Chauhan, Yatish Shetty, Ankit Dalvi, Ashish Chavan, Siddheshwar) beat Charkop FC 4 (Pranav Bhandari, Nihar Deshpande, Aaryan Yadav, Sagar Gawde) via the sudden death. Full-time – 0-0, tie-breaker – 4-4.