Goalkeeper Sanjeev Verma’s heroics under the bar saved the day for Bank of India as they defeated PIFA Colaba 4-2 via the tie-breaker in a first round match of the 111th RCF-Nadkarni Cup knockout football tournament, organized by RCF Sports Club under the aegis of MDFA, and played at the RCF Colony ground, Chembur on Friday. The match ended in a goalless draw.
Showing good reflexes and agility Verma brough of a couple of fine saves in normal play to deny the Elite Division club from finding the net. Later, Verma made two timely saves in the crucial penalty shootout duel to help the Super Division club, Bank of India emerge victories and advance to the quarter-finals.
In another first round match, Mumbai Strikers got the better of Mumbai Customs by a similar 4-2 margin also via the tie-breaker after their match ended in a goalless draw.
Results – 1st round: Bank of India 4 (Alvito Gomes, Shubham Dalvi, Rupesh Meher, Sailesh Jadhav) beat PIFA Colaba 2 (Kamran, Sushant ).
Mumbai Striker 4 (Abhishek Bhagat, Saurabh Solanki, Ravish D’Souza, Arsalan Hamdulay ) bt Mumbai Customs 2 (Joshua Vesaokar, Mathias Coutinho).