PIFA Colaba grabbed their chances and snatched a narrow 2-1 win against Union Bank of India in a fairly exciting first round match of the Deserve Builder & Devolopers-RCF Premier Cup Football Tournament, organized by RCF Colony Boys Krida and Sanskrutik Mandal, and played at the RCF Colony ground, Chembur.
A minute from the half-time whistle, the Colaba side broke the deadlock when Hemant Meher scored from a snap effort to take his team into the break with a 1-0 advantage. Union Bank returned back fighting and five minutes into the second period managed to find the equalizer through Valentine Pereira. However, five minutes later PIFA Colaba regained the lead through Sushant Jadhav and they did well to defend their lead till the end of regulation time to clinch the win and advance to the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Central Railway and Mumbai Customs also advanced to the quarter-finals. In quarter-final encounters, Central Railway defeated Central Bank of India 1-0 with Ajinkya Nalavade netting the winning goal.
Later, Mumbai Customs got the better of Karnatak Sporting Association by an identical 1-0 margin with seasoned striker Francisco Salin striking the all-important goal in the first half.
Results – Men’s (1st round): PIFA Colaba 2 (Hemant Meher, Sushant Jadhav) beat Bank of India 1 (Valentine Pereira). Player of the Match: Shanon Pereira (Bank of India).
Central Railway 1 (Ajinkya Nalavade) beat Central Bank of India 0. Player of the Match: Nadeem Khan (Central Bank).
Mumbai Customs 1 (Francisco Salin) beat Karnatak SA 0. Player of the Match: Ridde Carlo (KSA).
Western Railway 2 (Linekar Machado, Somi P.T.) beat Kenkre FC 1 (Derrick Joseph).
Women: Women: Football Leaders SC beat Aquila FC 6-0; Steadfast SC beat Rhino FC 7-6 via tie-breaker.
Boy’s under-14: Mumbai FC ‘A’ beat Mumbai FC ‘B’ 10-0; Steadfast FC beat Maurya FC 4-0.