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Subroto Cup: St Mary’s conquers marsh land, Mickey and Minie to win final
St Mary’s edged past Millennium National School 1-0 in the semi-finals, and went on to beat Angel Mickey and Minie School by the same score line in the final
On a day which saw severe water-logging on the pitch at PDFA’s Dobarwadi ground in the city on Sunday, St Mary’s emerged victorious in the U-17 Girls category of the city-level final of the Subroto Cup 2019.
St Mary’s edged past Millennium National School 1-0 in the semi-finals, and went on to beat Angel Mickey and Minie School by the same score line in the final.
The condition of the pitch was horrendous with coaches and parents of players concerned from the moment they entered the ground. Heavy rain in Pune caused the surface of the PDFA ground to look like a marshland.
Considering the conditions of the pitch, organisers decided to host matches with a duration of just 20 minutes, split in two equal halves.
The young girls, however, braved the conditions and did the best they could.
Slipping and limping throughout the game, proper attacks on goal in the first half of the game were few and far between.
Angel Mickey and Minie winger Deeksha Mali took the ball down the left flank, beating a couple of defenders, only to lose possession as the ball got stuck in the mud.
On the opposite flank, St Mary’s winger, Zahra Unwala, tried the same technique. She blitzed past two players, but failed to beat the third due to ground conditions.
Angel Mickey and Minie had Harshita Kalbhor playing in defence and she stopped almost all St Mary’s attacks in the first half. Her challenges were well timed, she did not give away any free kicks, with her long-range passing quite accurate.
The first half ended goalless, which was not surprising considering the state of the pitch. Players and coaches realised that the only way to attack was through solo runs.
Low, short passes proved to be ineffective as the ball would halt in the muck.
A unique team-talk saw both the coaches instructing their players to aim for solo runs with the ball, rather than the usual short passing and build-up strategies.
The second half started with Angel Mickey and Minie launching the first attack through Deeksha Mali yet again. This time her effort was thwarted by the St Mary’s defence, before she could enter the penalty area. St Mary’s winger, Urvi Salunke, was very lively in the second half. She bombed downed the right-wing, dribbling past two defenders, but unfortunately, could not whip in a good cross.
The first and only goal of the game came three minutes before the full-time whistle. St Mary’s winger, Zahra Unwala, who had scored the winning goal in the semi-final, found a dry patch as she darted down the left flank, cut inside while the Mickey and Minie defence was still tracking back, and unleashed a beautiful strike, which curled into the bottom right corner of the goal, from the edge of the penalty area.
With just three minutes to go, Angel Mickey and Minie School found themselves in a really tight-spot. Harshita Kalbhor tried to go down the left flank, but the St Mary’s defence was solid and focused and they successfully managed a clean sheet and a narrow 1-0 victory in the toughest of conditions.
“If this is the official PDFA Ground, then it is a shame. You need to have better grounds and better facilities,” parents chorused from the sidelines after the match.
On the contrary, Sunny Ajmerkar, a coach from local football club FC Beckdinho stated that the ground used to be worse a few years ago. He also stated that the pitch will return to its prime condition once the rains stop.
Ajmerkar was at the game to keep an eye on one of his students – Harshita Kalbhor. The 16-year-old, who has played at the state level before, played a good game, but couldn’t help her side win.
QUOTES:
“We face this problem every year. Just look at the pitch conditions. If we have good grounds to play on, automatically the game will improve. This pitch is unplayable and despite that, our girls have won. They have trained and worked really hard, they have played a team game, and they deserve to be the winners.”
Devendra Singh Bhandari, coach, St Mary’s School
“As compared to the other grounds, the condition of this pitch is the worst. The SSPMS ground was a little better. We need the officials to take care of such grounds. In Mumbai they have a proper turf for tournaments like this, so why are we playing on such a surface? Just coming to play at a ground like this makes us winners and I am proud of my girls because they have given more than their 100% today.”
Priya Kale, coach, Angel Mickey and Minie School
Zahra Unwala (HT Player of the Match): “The second half really helped me, because there was at least some grass on my flank which enabled me to run. You can’t really play over here. Luckily, I had enough energy to take that winning shot. I have to give credit to my teammates who initiated the move and passed the ball to me and I just converted it. I’ve never played on such a pitch so this is something I will never forget.”
Results:
Girls U-17
Final: St Mary’s School 1 (Zahra Unwala 17’) bt Angel’s Mickey and Minie School, Hadapsar 0
Third Place:
Nagarwala Boarding School 0 bt Millennium National School 0. Penalty Shoot-out 2-0
Semi-final 1:
Angel Mickey and Minie School, Hadapsar 1 (Aditi Nanware 11’) bt Nagarwala Boarding School 0
Semi-final 2:
St Mary’s School 1 (Zahra Unwala 9’) bt Millennium National School 0
Boys U-17
Third Place:
Vidya Bhavan High School 1 (Shreyas Jagtap 12’) bt Lexicon School, Kalyani Nagar 0
