ST Joseph's, Wadala clinched the boys under-16 Division II title beating Utpal Sanghvi, Juhu 3-1 via the tie-breaker.
ST Joseph's, Wadala clinched the boys under-16 Division II title beating Utpal Sanghvi, Juhu 3-1 via the tie-breaker. The Mumbai Schools Sports Association-conducted final headed in to the penalties after scores at regulation time remained tied at 1-1.
It was once again Zenon Sydney Aglem's goalkeeping skills that took his side to victory and eventually the title. The defender had earlier saved his side the blushes in the semi-final against Dhirubhai Ambani, BKC where he scored an unlikely equaliser late in the second half and then hooked on to his custodian's gloves for the shoot-out and made two crucial saves to seal the final spot.
Zenon, who originally plays centre-back, was successful once again as he took over the 'keeping responsibilities from his regular 'keeper Bhavya Gala. He effected an impressive save to deny Utpal Sanghvi striker, Shams Patel's stinging effort.
Luck also seemed to be on St Joseph's side as the Juhu side's midfielder Jinay Jain hit the woodwork while defender Dhairya Bhandari got his side off to a poor start after he struck way over the crossbar.
Fifteen-year-old Aglem dedicated the triumph to his head coach Jesus D'Sa and his family. Owing to a sudden demise of his mother-in-law, Jesus couldn't accompany his side to the all-important final.
"We were nervous when we got to know that Sir won't be available for today's match. But we remained confident of our chances going into the game and when Roshan Mohanty scored the opener, we started pushing even harder.
"It was a complete a team effort. When they scored the equaliser, I was the last defender. I said to myself that I could have probably done better and when it came to penalties I knew I had to make up for my mistake. I'm really happy that we got what we wished for," said Zenon.
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