MFL debutants Our Lady of Health created history at the St. Xavier’s ground in Parel as they became the champions of the inaugural Division Six after beating St. Sebastian Boys by the slimmest of margins at 2-1 in the cup final.
Two early goals proved to be the key for the eventual champions as the Sebastian boys put on an impressive fight-back in the second half and came within whiskers of grabbing the equalizer in a pulsating contest.
The Finale
Right from kick-off, St. Sebastian made some good in-roads into the OL half. The fact that the boys had raked up five corners in the first five minutes – all resulting in some nervous moments inside the crowded penalty area – spoke volumes of their dominance in the opening exchanges.
It seemed like only a matter of time before St. Sebastian would score.
Goooooooooooooal!
The opening goal, going OL’s way, took everybody by surprise considering that it arrived completely against the run of play. Midfielder Nikhil Jadhav found space outside the penalty area and unleashed a powerful twenty five which went crashing into the roof of the net. Goal! 1-0 to Our Lady of Health.
Not bad for a player who was not included in the starting eleven in the first place!
With the precious goal in tow and spurred on by their supporters – complete with a noisy band playing popular local beats – OL started gaining confidence and getting a fair share of possession in the middle of the pitch.
Two good!
Within five minutes of scoring their first goal, our Lady of Health doubled their advantage with a strike befitting of a cup final and arguably one of the best of the entire 330 game season.
Following an infringement thirty yards from goal, self-acclaimed dead ball specialist Romson Shedge stepped up to take the resulting free-kick. His ensuing shot can only be described as poetry in motion – the ball sailing over the wall and into the top corner at the far post to leave the keeper stranded as the St. Xavier’s stands erupted in celebration. Goal! 2-0.
On his personal performance
"I am very happy with my performance today. We won and that's what counts. I belong to Jesus and I thank him for eveything"
On his team's overall season "We played well all season. Fourteen games with very little break. This is our first season in the league and we all put in a lot of hard work to make this happen."
On his spectacular goal
"That is my speciality. I am good with free-kicks. The first one I took went just over but the second one was bang on target."
On his future ambitions "I do not plan to play for any other team. We are all from Sahar, Andheri and we are a very compact group - like brothers here. I will continue to play for Our Lady of Heath"
