MS locked horns against St. Paul’s SC from Dadar in the season opener on 27th September, 2014. St. Paul's was the home team and had a team of young and enthusiastic lads. MS as most know missed out on promotion to Super division last year on goal difference.
MS has pretty much the same side from last season with a few additions. Some of whom made their debuts in this game. Sagar and Sunil started on either flank with Ravish sphere heading the attack. Amit and Rameez played in the defensive midfield role.
The concern for MS is their injury list which is an alarming situation. Akshay Devadiga and Abhijit Shetty missed the game through ankle injuries, Akshay Saraf missed out due to college university game commitments. Rakesh Patne is another player and arguably the most influential one to miss out due to injury. Sadly, Rakesh will be missing the entire season due to a fracture in his left hand.
The match that was scheduled to start at 4pm but kicked off an hour later at 5pm due to unknown reasons. Danger of the match being called off due to bad light was looming over. But the referees were ready to go and so were the players. The match started and to the delight of the home team onlookers, St. Paul's grabbed the opener within the first minute. Sagar gave away a free kick on the right D-top and the free kick was headed in by the St. Paul's player. MS players were shell shocked with players looking at each other wondering what had just happened. With the goal conceded it was time MS got their act together.
As the game progressed MS again looked up to their main man Ravish D’souza to deliver. And deliver he did. Ravish scored 4 first half goals along with one in the second half. In the midst of that, St. Paul’s also gave away an own goal as a result of a mix up between the keeper and the defender. Ravish pounced on every ball put forward with aggression dancing through the defense as if they weren’t there. Sunil who operated from the left flank was impressive on his debut with his runs and ball skills. Sagar let go the opportunity to score on his debut as he missed a one-on-one chance that he put wide. Vernon Saldanha, another of MS’s debutants came on in the second half for Rohit D’souza got a few valuable minutes under his belt. MS goalkeeper Leon Menezes did not see a lot of action as the goal was the only attempt St. Paul 's managed.
As presumed, the match had to be called off on the 56th minute due to bad light.The Referee called for the match to be ended with player’s safety in mind. With 24 minutes still remaining to be played, MS wrote a letter about the game and requested for the remainder time to be played on another suitable date.
The score stands as 6-1 to MS and the game still has 24 minutes remaining to be played. With the letter already submitted by MS, a verdict is awaited from the MDFA committee.