GOA, APRIL 26 ; Minerva Academy FC of Chandigarh stormed into the final of the U-15 Youth League with a 2-0 win over Mohammedan Sporting Club in the second semi-final played at Nagoa, Goa today.
Givson Singh and Jeckson Singh scored for the Minervans in the second half to set up the final clash with Royal Wahingdoh on April 29.
Coming into the match with a thumping 8-1 win over Mumbai FC, the young Minervans were confident of beating Mohammedan Sporting Club.
The match started on equal terms with both the sides attacking and looking to score first, to put pressure on the opponents. Minervan’s were the first to have a sniff at the goal in the 7th minute of the match when a Shubham strike missed the far post by inches.
Again in the 15th minute, Shubham was in think of action, when his effort from inside the box ricochet off the bar. It followed with a beautiful run from Givson, dodging two defenders to take a shot, which also went wide.
The Kolkata side also got their fair share of chances in between, of which two attempts were beautifully thwart by the GoalKeeper Jaskarenvir Singh. With both sides failing to break the deadlock in the half, mostly dominated by Minerva, the match went into the break.
The second half resume with lots of promise, with both sides coming all guns blazing, desperate to do something special in the remaining 45 minutes. This time, Mohammedan Sporting had the first go at the goal, again forcing Jaskarenvir Singh to come up with a brilliant save.
But that was the last real chance that the Kolkata side came up with as Minervans took over and fully dominated there on, specially after Debjit Rakshit was sent off for receiving his second yellow card.
Meanwhile MAFC’s relentless pressure paid dividends in the 56th minute when Givson came up with another beautiful run from the centre and blasted in a scorcher from the edge of the box, giving no chance to the MSC goalkeeper to react, making it 1-0.
The goal brought back the much needed confidence as the Minervans looked to run riot again but the alert Mohammedan Sporting defence proved to be good enough to thwart the attacks. With clock ticking, Minerva boys were desperate to kill the match and they finally did it in the 81st minute when free-kick specialist Jeckson Singh curled in the dead ball from outside the box.
The goal brought much relive to the boys as they slowed down there after and successfully saw-off the remaining time.
Coincidentally, Mohammedan Sporting Club were also beaten by the senior Minervans in their 2nd Division league clash.
The win takes Minerva to the final of the Youth League, where they will clash against Royal Wahingdoh, which defeated United SC 3-0 in the first SF. Minerva and Wahingdoh have met earlier in the group stage and the match ended 2-2 that time.