22nd Wellingdon Inter-Parish Tournament            Gonzalo Garcia, Vasai v Our Lady of Lourdes, Malad   Match Report by Shailesh Karkera Photos by Kamlesh Kotenkar Willingdon Inter-Parish Reference Guide  Knock-out Pool Structure | Fixtures     A brace by striker Sam Cruz rescued Gonzalo Garcia, Vasai from the brink of elimination and turned the tables on Our Lady of Lourdes, Malad on a wet night at the Willingdon Inter-Parish courts. With the final score reading 2-1 in their favor, the boys from Vasai were made to dig deep in the pouring rain against the technically astute Lourdes boys. Interestingly, Our Gonzalo Garcia – comprising of members of club team Vasai United - had enough players on the bench two additional teams while their Malad counterparts had barely two on their sidelines. Lourdes dominate Right from kick-off, Lourdes took the game to their opponents and worked out a string of moves within the first five minutes.  Striker Shawn had two good attempts on goal which zoomed past the crossbar after some great approach play inside the shooting zone. Providing all the creativity and flair in midfield was fleet-footed midfielder Omejo – a player who was proving to be quite a handful for the Vasai defense as the game wore on. Scorching Opener The Lourdes persistence finally paid off when Omejo unleashed a first time strike across goal from the left wing – and crashed into the top corner of the net. Goal! 1-0 to Lourdes, Malad. To add to Vasai’s woes was the fact that it started raining – making it even more difficult to control the ball in the slippery court surface. By far the most common sight throughout the evening was that of players constantly slipping and hitting the ground after a short burst of speed. Vasai boys rally Eventually Vasai started making some constructive in-roads into the opposition area – lanky midfielder Nevron showing some great footwork, beating two defenders with one swoop before hammering a powerful strike towards the goal from the edge of the area – which zoomed over the crossbar. Needless to say, Lourdes pressed forward and continued to have an upper hand - until the Gloria boys equalized against the run of play. Following some excellent spade work by Ignatius , Sam Cruz struck gold with a hard strike which came off the Lourdes keeper which -as per tournament rules - counts. Goal! 1-1. The sideline referees were constantly on their toes as the game turned physical with reckless tackles flying around the court. Cruz Control! The winner arrived late in the second half thanks to another opportunistic strike by the man of the hour, Sam Cruz. Following midfielder Frankson Thattara’s through ball inside the area, the striker made no mistake with a blasted short into the far corner, rendering the keeper helpless. Goal! 2-1. Vasai in front. Lourdes had two good opportunities later on in the game to draw level but their strikes on goal went agonizingly wide of the frame. Full time At the close of play, Gonzalo Garcia, Vasai had prevailed and had earned their ticket to the third round of the Willingdon Inter-parish tournament. As the competition toughens, the boys cannot afford any more slip-ups. Literally!