By Minerva Academy FC
CHANDIGARH: Minerva Academy Football Club continued their domination in the Chandigarh football circuit by lifting the State Junior Football title. The U-17 boys beat DAV-8 4-3 via a tie-breaker in the final of the tournament held at the Sector-17 football stadium.
With this title, Minerva Academy Football Club have brought home both the seniors and the juniors cup.
The teams started on a cautious note restricting the battle mainly on the midfield. But it was Minerva Academy Football Club which had the first sniff at the goal when Rizual blasted the ball inches over the bar from the edge of the box.
There after the game became lively with DAV also initiating some fine attacks but it was Minerva that started dominating till they went into the break, with the stalemate intact.
Right after the break, DAV got a golden opportunity to take the lead through Amandeep but Goalkeeper Satinder’s brilliant effort was enough to keep the ball out of the goal.
With the clock ticking, Minerva changed their game plan and tried breaking open the opponents on the counter. Immediately, Aryaman caught the defenders by surprise but failed to beat the goalkeeper.
They came close to taking the lead again when Arnav dribbled past several DAV defenders before passing the ball to Aryaman, who again blasted the ball over the bar.
A long ranger from Rizual was also punched away by the DAV custodian as Minerva Academy FC failed to take the lead despite the domination in the open play.
Tie-Breaker was the need of the day and in the ensuing spot kicks, Minerva players held their nerves to bring home another Cup.
Saksham, Udaybir , Ritwik and Darshan converted their spot kicks for Minerva whereas Subham and Ayesh missed.
Nishant, Dhanraj and Ankit converted the penalties for DAV-8 while Amandeep and Jagatpaul missed the target.
Rizual was also named the Player of the Tournament.
This win serves as a moral booster for the boys ahead of their U-`5/U-18 I-League campaign which is set to kick off sometime next month.
