The Knock-out phase began with the top four teams clashing to enter the Finals of the Memorial Cup 2013 which will be held on the 7th of August on the ‘A” ground of St. Paul’s High School.
In the first semi-final at 3:00 PM Islamiya School played against Marathi Vidyaniketan. It was a great day for Islamiya with Abuzar Bhisti opening the score of the match early on in the 4th minute. Even though Islamiya was leading, Marathi Vidyaniketan put up an impressive fight and fought hard to score but the first half ended 1 – 0.
In the second half, Islamiya stepped up their game and it was evident as ace scorer Abuzar Bhisti scored his second goal in the 4th minute of the second half. Finally, Marathi Vidyaniketan got a break by Abhishek Gavade scoring a goal in the 48th minute. However, it was countered by Shad Dharwadkar scoring a goal for Islamiya in the last few minutes of the match. Islamiya won the match 3 – 1.
The second semi-final of the day saw St. Paul’s High School clash with M V Herwadkar School. It was a tense and exciting match. Both teams had equal chances to score but both goal-keepers did a fabulous job defending. No goals were scored in the first half.
Even though the second half of the match saw both teams stepping up their game to score, it was Atif Mujawar who broke the formidable Herwadkar defence to score a goal in the 40th minute. The pressure was on Herwadkar to score but Kashif Khan managed to seal St. Paul’s lead by scoring a goal in the 54th minute. St. Paul’s won the match 2 – 0.
Today’s matches have set the stage for a Finals match between Islamiya School and St. Paul’s High School for the Memorial Cup 2013 of the 34th edition of the Royceton Gomes Memorial Football Tournament.
The Finals match, which traditionally has always been played on Royceton Gomes’ birthday, will be played on Wednesday, 7th August at 4:00 PM on the ‘A’ ground of St. Paul’s High School.