MARGAO
Loyola HS Margao emerged champions after beating Rosary HS Navelim in the finals of the 1st Chowgule Sports Centre U-13 Futsal League organised by YFA.
A large gathering of spectators were not disappointed as both teams displayed excellent game of futsal for all the onlookers. Rosary HS started off the better of the two teams and took a well-deserved lead through Cain Fernandes' low drilled right-footed effort in the 7th minute. Thereafter, Rosary had numerous chances to double their lead but were denied by some last-ditch defending by Joshua Carvalho and Andreas Furtado. As the game wore on, Loyola found their way back through a penalty taken by Reuben Barbosa in the 14th minute and the teams went into the interval level at 1-1.
Loyola started the better of the two in the second half and a thunderous effort from Reuben Barbosa found the top left corner of the Rosary goal to give them the lead in the 25th minute. Rosary fought back and started stringing together neat passes as they gained momentum. Rosary were then rewarded with a direct freekick from the 10 metre mark and defender Cain Fernandes stepped up to level the scores with a low effort to the keeper's right in the 34th minute.
Rosary had a golden chance to take the lead but keeper Ronan Moraes saved Cain's effort from 10 metres. It looked like the thrilling contest was heading into extra time but with one minute to go for the whistle, Loyola earned a freekick in a promising position and once again Reuben Barbosa found the Rosary goal to complete his hat-trick and put Loyola within touching distance of the title.
Rosary would have one last glorious opportunity from the 10 metre mark but Ronan had the last laugh as he ensured his save all but guaranteed Loyola's victory as the referee blew the final whistle much to the delight of the Loyola students, their parents and faculty who attended the match.
The chief guest for the finals, Savio Medeira (Head of Coach Education, AIFF), guest of honour Princeton Rebello (FC Goa player), special guests Andrew Ferrao (City Sports), Rev Fr Basil Vago (Principal, Loyola HS), Mario Moraes (Principal, Rosary HS), Fr Elvis Godinho (Manager, Rosary HS), Socorro George Vaz (Founder, YFA) and Dr Devashish Bagchi (Director, Chowgule College) presented the individual awards and the winners' trophy.
Individual awards: Best Player - Reuben Barbosa (Loyola HS), Most Promising Player - Saiesh Kortharkar (Vidya Vikas Academy), Golden Glove - Ronan M Moraes (Loyola HS), Best Defender - Lillian Rodrigues (Vidya Vikas Academy), Outstanding Performer - Warren Rodrigues (Vidya Vikas Academy), Outstanding Performer - Lochlan Sousa (Manovikas EMS), Outstanding Performer - Joshua M Carvalho (Loyola HS), Outstanding Performer - Aaryan Tulsimani (Rosary HS), Consistent Player - Soham Mane (YFA), Consistent Player - Messi Rebello (Rosary HS), Consistent Player - Eric Telles (Manovikas EMS), Excellent Performance - Yohann Sousa (Manovikas EMS), Excellent Performance - Aryaveer Agarwal (YFA), Excellent Performance - Trond Dias (YFA), Best Attacking Player - Aaryav Da Costa (YFA), Only Girl Player of the League - Lillian Rodrigues (Vidya Vikas Academy).
