PANAJI
Rosary Higher Secondary School, Navelim, bounced back into contention with a hard-fought victory in the senior boys' category at the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports National Football Championship in Mumbai on Saturday.
Rosary downed Sihphir Higher Secondary School, Aizawl, 2-1 at the Reliance Corporate Park, Ghansoli to overcome a 0-4 loss to group toppers Minerva Public School, Chandigarh in their opening match
on Thursday.
Rosary's semi-final hopes now hinge on their last Group A duel against Panampilly Nagar Government Higher Secondary School, Kochi, who have yet to win a match. A victory should help them seal a last four spot from the group. Two teams from each group in every category qualify for the semi-finals.
Striker Stendly Fernandes opened the account for Rosary in the 5th minute and they clung on to the lead for more than 70 minutes. But the Aizawl team hit back and netted the equaliser through their prolific striker Vanlal Peka in the 76th minute.
Unperturbed, Rosary continued to mount raids with Stendly at the forefront and it paid dividends when Sihphir conceded a penalty following a foul in the danger zone. Midfielder Denson Fernandes stepped up and made no mistake to seal the game in
their favour.
The other Goan team in the fray on Saturday, Father Agnel College of Arts and Commerce, Pilar, however, suffered a jolt as they went down 0-2 to Netaji Nagar Day College, Kolkata in their college boys group match.
Despite the defeat Fr Agnel are still in fray for a semifinal spot from Group B as they had won their first match against St Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore 8-2. A win in their last group match against St Anthony College, Shillong on New Year's Day should see them through.
The RFYS National Championship semi-finals will be played at the Reliance Corporate Park, Ghansoli on January 3 and 4 with the finals on January 6, 2018.
