The United Goans Centre (UGC) held its Inter-school under-15 football tournament on 3rd February 2018. The tournament kicked off on the bright and windy morning in a league style tournaments with six schools; divided into two groups competed against each other as only the top two schools with most points would make it to the finals.
The schools that took part were; Indian English Academy School (IEAS), Unites Indian School (UIS), Kuwait Indian School (KIS), Indian Central School (ICS), Carmel School Kuwait (CSK) and India International School Mangaf (IISM).
Round 1: In the first round of matches, IEAS took on IISM and KIS battled with ICS.
ICS came out swinging, scoring minutes after the start. No.10 Usama Awadh was the player who gave ICS the deserved lead. ICS were relentless in their attacking prowess and left KIS with little choice but to play a more conservative and defensive game. No.23 Anas Khan and No.07, Kevin Mahesh seemed to have a good understanding of the game as they kept prodding the KIS defense for a shot on goal. ICS claimed all three points as it headed into the second round of matches.
On the other side, we had the IEAS and IISM struggled to breakdown each other’s defense. IEAS had to dig deep and defend the various attacks in their box but their goalkeeper was well aware of the danger and kept a clean sheet throughout. The game ended in a 0-0 draw and each team took one point into the next round.
Round 2: The second round saw CSK take on KIS and IISM take on UIS. IISM opened scoring early on with No. 06 Atif scoring the goal putting his team 1-0 in the lead. UIS seemed eager to get back on level terms launching several quick counter attacks in response to the goal. Nevertheless, the IISM goalkeeper was vigilant at his post. After the break, UIS were back in the game with No.06 Adhil scoring the equalizer to make sure his team got one point as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Simultaneously CSK opened their own scoring with after a good spell of attack. After halftime, CSK doubled their lead only to have KIS No.10 Abdullah score and reduce the goal difference. But CSK were not to be held back as they responded brilliantly with another goal and gaining back their 2 goal cushion. The highly entertaining match ended 3-1 with CSK taking all three points. Goal scorers of CSK were No.22 Emad, No.08 Alric and No.02 Alvin.
Round 3:IEAS took on UIS in the last round and CSK faced ICS. CSK seemed equally matched with ICS as both teams struggled to make a breakthrough but could not. The match though quite engaging ended in a goal-less draw.IEAS was on the offensive right from the start, having a lot ball possession. The goalkeeper for UIS was impressive; as he saved a lot of the goal-ward bound shots. The first half ended with a goalless draw but after halftime, No.10 Aaron D’Souza from IEAS finally broke the deadlock and gave them the lead.After what was a riveting day of fast-paced youth football, IEAS will take on CSK in the finals, which will be held with the annual UGC Men’s Football Tournament Final on 2nd March 2018.