Bandra Gym football report:
Hot Stepper SC scrapped past Geostanne SC clinching a narrow 1-0 win in their Men’s Open quarter-final match of the 25th Bandra Gymkhana Open Rink Football Tournament and played under floodlights at the DeMonte Park Recreational Ground, Bandra. Midway through the first session, nippy striker Clinton Crasto capitalised on a defensive lapse to score the crucial winning goal, which secured Hot Steppers progress to the semi-finals.
Stung by that setback, Geostanne regrouped and mounted pressure on the rival citadel by creating a series of goal-scoring chances, but their attackers, including their consistent scorer Nikhil Singh was unable to find the net and they had to bow out of the competition.
Meanwhile, defending champions Joga Bonita SC ‘A’ and Joga Bonita ‘B’, both scored comfortable wins to march into the semi-finals. The senior Joga Bonita team outplayed Game King 5-1 while their second string blanked St. Jude’s SC 3-0.
In the fourth quarter-final match, Thrashers SC got the better of Boca Juniors 2-0 with Russel Galbano and Fahim Fakhi striking a goal each.
In the men’s veterans’ semi-finals, Bandra Packers proved too strong as they tamed Macabbi SC 3-0. Benny Fernandes struck a brace of goals and Savio Rodrigues netted one for the winners.
In the finals, Packers will clash with Ronnie-7 SC who defeated Chinai Veterans 2-1 in the second semi-final. Amrish Bhave and Vinay D’Silva were on target for the winners, while only Sagar Amin found success for the losing side.
Results – Men’s Open (quarter-finals): Joga Bonita ‘A’ 5 (Daniel Fernandes 2, Johnson D’Silva 2, Pratik Kadam) beat Game King 1 (Suraj K); Trashers 2 (Russel Galbano, Fahim Fakhi) beat Boca Juniors 0; Joga Bonita ‘B’ 3 (Henderson Dias 2, Ankit Chavan) beat St. Jude SC 0; Hot Steppers 1 (Clinton Crasto) beat Geostanne SC 0.
Veterans Men’s (semi-finals): Bandra Packers 3 (Benny Fernndes 2, Savio Rodrigues) beat Macabbi SC 0; Ronnie-7 SC 2 (Amrish Bhave, Vinay D’Silva) beat Chinai Veterans 1 (Sagar Amin).