St. Alex Higher Secondary Dominant in 3 – 1 Win To Progress To The Finals

GOA:
Senior Boys and College Boys joined the Semi-Finals action in Goa on Sunday showcasing their exhilarating skill and talent with a view to make it to the Finals in the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports. Match number 3 of the day action saw a comfortable overall performance from St. Alex Higher Secondary as the defeated St. Xavier’s Higher Secondary by 3 goals to nil to power through to the Finals in the Senior Boys Category.
Both teams started the match with attacking intent from their forwards with brilliant passing movement from the two teams as well. The first chance of the game fell to St. Xavier’s High School when a long ball dissected the defense putting the forward through the goal who missed a great opportunity to take his team in front. The break through finally came when St. Xavier’s number 9 was brought down right on the edge of the box. The impending free kick was beautifully curled into the top corner over the wall and past the goalkeeper by Joston Cardozo in the 31st minute. It took St. Alex Higher Secondary only a minute to equalize through some brilliant dribbling by the winger who put in the ball across goal for Elson Cardozo to equalize. St. Alex quickly turned the entire game around and were the dominating team towards the end of the first half, On the 41st minute Johnny Fernandes lit up the field when he scored one of the best goals of the tournament when he rifled a shot from 35 yards out right into the top right corner out of the reach of the outstretching goalkeeper. St. Alex went into half-time leading by two goals to one with St. Xaviers needing a change of plan to come back in the game.
The second half started with St. Xaviers pushing men forward to get an equalizer in the final 45 minutes of the match. They had a couple of great chances near th
e hour mark but were denied from close range by a last ditch tackle by St. Alex’s center backs. St. Alex also had their goalkeeper to thank for keeping them in the game when a stunning strike from St. Xavier’s number 6 destined to head into the top corner was parried by the keeper who then recovered quickly to knock the ball out for a corner. The ending stages saw a few chances for St. Alex as well due to high line held by the St. Xavier’s defense. St. Alex managed to shut shop in the 87th minute when Larry Mascarenhas scored another great goal into the top right corner to give his side a 2 goal advantage with only 3 minutes left on the clock. St. Xavier’s failed to put up a late show as they crashed out of the tournament with St. Alex moving on to the finals.
The day’s action also saw Govt. Higher Secondary School beat Guardian Angels Higher secondary in the second semi-final in the Senior Boys by a goal to nil thanks to a great strike from their number 5, Cyrus.
College Boys Semi-Finals were also played on the day where SS Dempo College smashed Damodar College Margao by 6 goals to 1 with Akiraj Martins scoring 4 goals taking the matchball home. Dempo set up a finals clash with Rosary College of Commerce & Arts who produced a major upset by beating Fr. Agnel College of Arts & Commerce by 6 goals to 1 thanks to a hattrick by Aaron D’Silva.
The City Finals will be held at Duler Stadium on Saturday, 19th November 2016 before the City Champions head for National Championships.

RFYS Senior Boys Finalists

1. St. Alex Higher Secondary
2. Government Higher Secondary School

RFYS College Boys Finalists:

1. SS Dempo College
2. Rosary College of Commerce & Arts

RFYS Senior Boys Scorelines:

St. Xavier’s Higher Secondary – 1 lost to St. Alex Higher Secondary – 3
Guardian Angels Higher Secondary School – 0 lost to Govt. Higher Secondary School – 1

RFYS College Boys Scorelines:

Damodar College Margao – 1 lost to SS Dempo College – 6
Rosary College of Commerce & Arts – 6 beat Fr. Agnel College of Commerce & Arts – 1