Mangalore Blues SC made a winning start as they clinched a narrow 1-0 win against Shreekrishna SC in a tight opening round league match of the 20th Late Shri Ramanath Payyade Memorial Football League 2015-2016, organised by KSA (Karnatak Sporting Association) and played at the KSA ground, Cross Maidan, Churchgate. Strikers Kelvin D’Souza struck the all-important winning goal to seal the win for Mangalore Blues.
Meanwhile in the opening league encounter, Saraswati SC produced a solid fighting display to snatch a close 2-1 win against a determined Kanara Bros SC to also start off on a winning note. For Saraswati the goals were scored by Austin Soares and Harish Kundapur, while Vikas Jadhav netted the lone goal for the losing side.
Earlier the tournament was inaugurated by Shri Jaya Poojary, a former footballer who represented Reserve Bank of India and also a long-serving member of the Karnatak SA. Also present were the Executive Committee members of KSA, including the Hon. Joint Secretaries, Prakash S. Shetty and M.P. Shetty along with other committee members Govind Puthran, Premnath Kotian and others.
Results: Saraswati SC 2 (Austin Soares, Harish Kundapur) beat Kanara Bros SC 1 (Vikas Jadhav).
Mangalore Blues SC 1 (Kelvin D’Souza) beat Shreekrishna SC 0.