Don Bosco schools made it to the junior boys’ semifinals of the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports football tournament in contrasting fashion. While Don Bosco High School, Matunga got the better of Vasant Vihar High School and Junior College, Thane 2-0, Don Bosco Senior Secondary School, Nerul edged out St Xavier’s Boys Academy, New Marine Lines 3-2 in a thriller at the Somaiya Hospital ground, Sion.
Two late strikes by player of the match Nihal Dudwalkar (53rd, 57th minutes) helped the Matunga boys’ surge in the semis. The winners played a waiting game and struck when it mattered most.
St Xavier’s Boys stood equal to every challenge that the Nerul lads threw and at one stage it looked like the match would head into tie-breaker with the scores level 2-2. But player of the match Shawn Carvalho sealed the match in Don Bosco’s favour with a last-minute strike.
Earlier, Prateek Chada had provided a sensational start to Don Bosco by scoring in the first minute. But St Xavier’s struck back in the 27th minute through Aman Shaikh.
