H S BEDI / New Delhi
Zakir Hussain College piped GGDSD College 2-0 to advance into the national championships of the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports Football Tournament, at the Minerva Academy Ground in Mohali, near Chandigarh.
The game started neck-and-neck and both teams weren’t ready to make a mistake to let an opportunity slip to advance to the next stage of the championships. Even though GGDSD College fought valiantly, the boys from Zakir took advantage of the tired legs of their opponents.
Zahawma’s goal in the 84th minute gave them the much-needed boost and he scored again in the 88trh minute to advance to the next round.
However, buoyed by the home crowd Minerva Public School registered emphatic victories against Delhi’s Nalanda Public School and Mamta Modern Senior Secondary School in the Junior boys’ and Senior boys’ category respectively.
In the Junior boys’ category, Minerva were stunned in the sixth minute of the game as Itendra Kumar gave his side the advantage. However, the boys from Minerva kept their composure as they brought one back to level the game through Kartik Nayyar just five minutes later.
After Minerva made it 1-1, they didn’t let the pressure down on their opponents and took the lead in the 26th minute when Ajay beat Nalanda’s keeper. They made it three before the break as Arjun Sharma’s strike left the keeper unmoved. Kartik, who had scored Minerva’s equalizer, struck again in the 51st minute to bag his brace and take the score to 4-1. Ajay also completed his brace three minutes later.
It was in the dying moments of the game that Samson Salam made it six and sealed the tie in Minerva’s favour and booked their berth in the national championships from the north zone.
In another high-scoring encounter of the Senior boys’ category, Minerva Public School thrashed Mamta Modern School 6-0 as they made their way into the national championships of RFYS football tournament.
The scoring opened in the 17th minute of the game as Konan Kouame gave his side the early advantage and his teammate, Makan Winkle Chothe, added to the early goal with a sublime strike in the 38th minute to send his side into the break with a comfortable lead.
The second half started as the first half ended, with goals as Vivek Rana showed nimble feet inside the box and made it 3-0. As Minerva didn’t let their opponents breathe, the pressure got to them and Abhishek Negi put the ball inside his own net in the 61st minute. A goal by Md. Shahjahan made it 5-0 before Makan Winkle Chothe completed his brace and added the cherry on top as he helped his side progress into the national champion ships.