Mumbai: Union Bank of India ground out a hard-fought 1-0 win against HDFC Bank in a quarter-final match of the 111th RCF-Nadkarni Cup knockout football tournament, organized by RCF Sports Club under the aegis of MDFA, and played at the RCF Colony ground.
In a keenly contest match, Union Bank managed to wrest the advantage when their consistent and prolific scorer Scott D’Souza found the back of the net in the 32nd minute to take his team to the break with a slender 1-0 lead.
In the second period, HDFC Bank, winners of the recent MDFA- Republic Day ‘Late Nitu Mandke Trophy’, tried to find the equalizer, but their attacker were kept in check by some tight marking by the Union Bank defenders who were compact and solid at the back.
In Thursday’s second semi-final, Union Bank will run into Mumbai Strikers who got the better of Bank of India 4-2 via the penalty shootout tie-breaker after the match ended in a goalless draw.
On Wednesday, defending champions Air India will take on Indian Navy in the first semi-final.
Results – quarter-finals: Union Bank of India 1 (Scott D’Souza 32nd) beat HDFC Bank 0.
Mumbai Strikers 4 (Abhishek Bhagat, Abhijeet Shetty, Arslan Hamdulay, Jay Wadhwa) beat Bank of India 2 (Alvito Gomes, Aishwary Rhelekar) via the tie-breaker. Full-time: 0-0.