Mumbai Knights-JMJ SC snatch close 2-1 victory
by Suman Gupta
Mumbai: Playing with plenty of grit and determination Mumbai Knights-JMJ Sports Club rallied to snatch a deserving 2-1 win against PIFA Sports (Colaba) FC in an absorbing Elite Division match of the Mumbai Football Association (MFA) League and played at the Neville D’Souza ground, Bandra on Monday evening.
Striker Rohith K.S. was the hero as he scored both the goals to secure Mumbai Knights-JMJ Sports Club’s win, after Varad Ayare had given PIFA Sports an early lead.
PIFA Sports started in rousing fashion and took an early lead to gain ascendancy. Varad Ayare stunned the Mumbai Knights-JMJ Sports Club defence as hit the target to open the scoring in the very second minute and give his team the initiative.
However, Mumbai Knights seemed unfazed by that setback and came roaring back to restore parity 11 minutes later. Mumbai Knights did well to create an opening and Rohith made no mistake in converting that chance to put his team on level terms in the 13th minute.
Mumbai Knights were rewarded for their hard work as Rohith was again in the thick of action and scored his and the team’s second goal in the 75th minute to seal their win and to collect the full three points.
Earlier, D.K. Pharma SC conceded a late goal and were forced to share honours with Kenkre FC in a 1-1 draw in another Elite Division match. The match witnessed an interesting contest for supremacy as both teams played with positive intent and created quite a number of chances at either end.
Against the run of play D.K. Pharma rocked the Kenkre citadel when their Ghanaian striker Eugene Nimako found the back of the net in the 18th minute to put his team in the lead.
Thereafter, D.K. Pharma defended resolutely their slender lead and with time running they came close to securing a win. But, at the death the Kenkre FC attackers mounted repeated attacks on the rival goal to put the rival defence under tremendous pressure. The D.K. Pharma resistance finally broke in the first, of two minutes of additional period as Kenkre striker Ajay Kumar struck the crucial goal which tied the match and forced the teams to share two points.
Results – Elite Div: D.K. Pharma SC 1 (Eugene Nimako) drew with Kenkre FC 1 (Ajay Kumar).
J.M.J. Sports Club 2 (Rohith K.S. 2) beat PIFA Sports (Colaba) FC 1 (Varad Ayare).
