AVM defeat St Lawrence 2-0 to secure semis berth

Smt RSB AVM’s Norah Bhattacharya (left) battles with St Lawrence’s Goral Bansode (right) in Borivli yesterday. Pic/Satej Shinde

On course to retain the girls under-16 first division title in the MSSA inter-school football tournament, reigning champions Smt RSB AVM (Juhu) deservingly secured their place in the semi-finals after coming through their playoff fixture in comfortable fashion at St Francis D'Assisi football ground, Borivli, on Wednesday.

Despite missing a few of their key players and playing without any bench strength, AVM still had enough ammunition to progress into the last four after they chalked out a 2-0 victory over St Lawrence High School (Borivli) in the opening match of the day.

Though not at full throttle, AVM, who led by a solitary goal at half-time and controlled the proceedings right from the outset, scored their goals through striker Vamika Udeshi (assist by Radhika Vyas) and midfielder Norah Bhattacharya.

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Meanwhile, St Lawrence, after suffering an early reversal, never looked like staging a comeback and would be relieved that they were down by just a goal at half-time considering the amount of pressure they were in.

After a somewhat scrappy start to the second half, AVM widened their lead through Norah, who came up with a neat finish inside the box at the half-hour mark.

The semi-final line-up for the girls under-16 first division was decided when later in the day, Bombay Scottish (Mahim), with a much-improved second-half showing, earned a 2-0 win against Thakur Public School (Kandivli) in another playoff match.

Striker Samriddhi Naik netted both goals in quick succession for Bombay Scottish in the second half following some slack defending by the Kandivli school, who lacked the creativity in midfield and hardly created any constructive openings.