WEEK 7 REPORT

UNIVERSAL VS AFRO

Participants had the chance to see the transfer between Afro and Universal, still the only in the season, have effect here but the chance passed itself up since keeper Ali Mahmood who came to Afro for Shamil did not turn up, leaving Afro keeper-less in a match they had already lost before. Universal clearly not used to waking up early came late, with captain Akeel not arriving until the ending of the first half and Imran Baksh not having enough time to wear his socks which was discussed with interest in the sides. Shamil too turned up only just in time for the game to start with Afro enjoying the advantage of having all 8 players against 5. Salman took charge for Universal and worked with Ali Damji to get past the Afro midfield and defence right in the beginning with superb 1-2 passing that narrowly missed upon touching Damji last. Not long after Salman stabbed an accurate shot straight at Arif which caused him to stumble and drop the ball but catch it again protected by the defense. A shot from Walji became a corner which was taken by captain Husain Somji and converted via Walji. Towards the ending Shameel took a corner for Universal and trusted his instincts to shoot straight at the goal. Arif was slow to react and the ball went in creeping around him. Perhaps Afro regretted transferring Shamil after all. Then Ali Damji came up with the sucker punch after being put through by Anis, which gave them an early winning start to their day.

TANGERINE VS DYNAMIC         

Saleh’s late arrival and Rasool’s absence benefited a Dynamic vulnerable to Tangerine’s sudden mid-season shoot-up with MuhamedRaza Hemraj, Ali Bhimani, Muhamed Manji and Adil missing. Captain Suhail made getting past the nearly-empty Dynamic defense look easier even than it should have been with his opening goal in the first five minutes. Imran Karim tried to even the score in any leeway he could uncover and a shot from him deflected off keeper Kazim gave him a corner, where he continued in similar fashion and scored a goal without passing. Now back to square one Adil came in significantly interrupting Saleh time and again. A pass to Imran from Adil went to Musti who gave Dynamic their second goal through Mehdi Damji’s legs. But Tangerine were not there to give Dynamic anything to celebrate about and that came in loud and clear with a second goal from Suhail after a 1-2 passing game with Saleh. Only a minute later a corner from Mustafa went to Posta who scored to say “bring it on!” But this was a risky statement and it went again Dynamic when keeper Jawad Murji gave a corner to Tangerine where Suhail connected to Saleh to even the game again. Try as he might Imran’s waning solo shots act was inadequate, going wide and once landing the ball on the side door only to release his smaller brother. With that final note of effort from Dynamic Suhail scored another goal.

EASTERN FREIGHT VS EASTPAC

Eastern were an early forerunner with a Muhammed Abdul Aziz goal against Eastpac even with Ibrahim in place of keeper Maisam who arrived a minute late. A mismatched Eastpac were struggling to stay intact in the starting as the Eastern midfield lashed ball after ball into the Eastpac box. With most of Eastern near the Eastpac D, Mahmood and Maisam Rattansi caught out all the defenders with a 1-2 which Mahmood touched last to pass back perhaps uninterested in scoring. Keeper Maisam was quick to react sending the ball to Ali Dina who took a brilliant shot but found the ball embraced by the keeper’s gloves. Seconds later Eastpac revisited the loud screams of the sides when Maisam Rattansi conned the Eastern goalie with his right foot to score with his left and as Mahmood was warned for an offensive against the younger Walji. Mahmood wanting to give the crowd something a bit more positive to discuss about his game sent the ball to Sadiq Jetha from a corner in just enough space to breath which Sadiq tapped right past Maisam Asgher in what was only sadiq’s second touch of the game. With the younger Walji falling victim to Mahmood again in the box it was keeper vs keeper as Asgher took the penalty, saved by Mujtaba who had already done his 120% to keep the score low for Eastern. A well passed opportunity to Maisam Rattansi was backpassed to Sadiq Jetha who won for Eastpac.

IMAGIO VS ZAGY

Though no fault of their own Imagio found themselves highly unpopular for playing against an already weakened Zagy. The crowds chanted Zagy on endlessly and not for the first time the underdogs in the tournament became the great favorites but even so Imagio had a fan in the form of AbdulHusain Tejani who made his conviction known with fervor. Zagy opened up the game’s electric atmosphere with an all-out attack on Imagio accompanied by some dazzling dives from keeper Zuhair Rattansi when facing the Imagio counter-attack. It was clear Zagy put every inch of heart they had in the game as Imagio’s midfield was taken to bits by first-class passing between Shane and his mates. Imran Lawati’s neat semi-cross semi-shot from midfield was taken by Zuhair as were infinite threats from Muhamed Ramzan and a few from Ali Husain. Even both of them together could not take down the tournament’s new favorite keeper with a 1-2. Zagy captain Muhamed Manji Jr bumped off a shot from Ramzan and passed it to Qassim who found himself in a 1-on-1 situation with the keeper in Zagy’s golden chance, but Qassim’s right-footed punt hit the goalie’s leg. Even though Zagy’s good luck may have been bad luck as two Lawati and one Ali Husain strikes went in, it seemed any publicity is good publicity. Afro were acting managers for Zagy behind the goals and Tejani by now had won some supporters. Mahmood Rattansi who had been sitting next to Tejani all along replied, “Zagy who?” when asked if he had switched sides because they were loosing.

AFRO VS ZAGY

They may have had lost their last game but there was no loss of heart in Zagy though energy levels were an issue. Shane made a mockery of the down-on-form Afro midfield in the first few minutes skipping past players like paper. He was taken care of by defender Azaam and the ball found it’s way to Walji. An issue with the Zagy goalie became a misunderstanding which Qassim had not seen as the game stopped to score past Afro keeper Fazle Abbas. Referee Anis awarded Zagy the goal but also gave them an own-goal which made not much difference to the game. Husain Walji repeated the same feat repeatedly, drawing players to himself to allow captain Husain Somji to pass to Arif who took his shots, one of which went in. The second half saw Zagy’s defense slump down allowing Afro to score one more goal through Hussein Walji. But even though they had won the match it was clear that if Afro continued on the same pace they are going to get done for in the tournament.

IMAGIO VS EASTPAC

Following their win against Eastern Freight, Eastpac had all reasons to start the game on a high but proceeded cautiously. Imagio were given a penalty when a player was knocked over in the D area, but keeper Mujtaba would not let it stand in the way of things and redirected the ball to Sadiq Jetha waiting in midfield. Sadiq was confronted by Imagio captain Ali Asgher and tried to play a 1-2 with Irfan Salim Damji on the left wing who was a touch late. The attacking captain Irfan tried from a little outside the box but the ball bounced off keeper Arif’s leg and lay in midfield for a second or two. On came Mahmood Rattansi bringing the storm with him and shot it straight below the crossbar but keeper Arif made a remarkable fingertip save. From there Abbas Vazir gave it to Ali Husain who was bravely taken on by Mujtaba on the verge of letting loose a powerful shot. From there the dominating Imagio set the pulse and quickly rolled up three goals by way of Muhamed Ramzan which received an unenthusiastic response, the third of which was caused by a rare mistake from the keeper as the ball slipped from his hands. Ali Husain sent a veering cross to the head of Muhamed Ramzan but the keeper was too good again. Keeper Mujtaba was defeated again with a shot from Ali Husain in the dying moments.

EASTERN FREIGHT VS DYNAMIC

Having lost their first game earlier in the day Eastern sought to gain from Dynamic, sapped of their mainstay and backbone Maja and Bhimani.  Eastpac blitzed forward as Dynamic brought into their play the principal “the best offense is a good defense” with Mustafa Rashid in goals, who did much to stop Ali Walji 1-on-1 and a shot from Muhamed Abdul Aziz a split-second later. Ali Dina, more often than not in the defense played an unusual offensive role but he was not the only one as Maisam Asgher assisted the team in Ibrahim’s place. Both these changes made seemingly no difference until the second half in which Imran Posta spent the primary few seconds chasing the ball between four people. Ibrahim came out of his position to enjoy thirty seconds of famed possession climbing to the left wing, a habit which had frequented Eastern Freight so many times already. Adil Haji roughed up his way to his left forward with a left-footed strike that drifted just outside the net. Later on an Adil freekick found the ball in the feet of an unmarked but unresponsive Jawad Murji on the right – one of the only mistakes he had made in that match. Eastern made wild tries but had sorely misjudged the defensive line of Dynamic. With no Mustafa to connect to in the front Imran Karim was left all on his own which was not enough to get his team to score. The game ended with a goal from the surprise move former keeper Maisam who shot it first time when he was assisted from the corner by Ali Walji.

TANGERINE VS UNIVERSAL

Tangerine may have beaten Dynamic but this was no Dynamic, this was Universal and they did have their whole team. Universal carried out their pre-match planning circle known specifically to them for this match and as the whistle blew it looked like they knew exactly what they were doing. Tangerine keeper Muhamed Kazim had his hands full right from the beginning, having to clear out an Akeel shot instantly and send it to the bar. Not long after Ali Damji linked his head with the ball but Kazim was up for it again. Suhail grabbed the ball from Akeel in midfield only to have it taken from Anis, who chipped it. Both Muhamed Ali Somji and goalie went to take it and clattered down leaving the ball to go inside the goal. Right after, Somji clashed with Akeel and they both fell down. Amidst all the confusion Mehdi Damji slipped by the Universal defense to receive a pass from Suhail and score his first goal in the tournament. A Shamil dodge and shot met with a spectacular keeper dive. Muhammed Ali passed on par to Saleh whos back-kick into the goal failed. Akeel got the ball and brought the score up. Defender Sibtain had a big task stopping all of Akeel and Salman’s big chances and did his part well. Suhail gave it to Mehdi who directly directed it to the well-placed Saleh who sent it in. A defensive tackle by Muhammed Ali Somji incurred a penalty from ref Zuhair Rattansi but Akeel’s shot to the right rebounded off Kazim’s hands. Eventually Universal did manage to bag all three points from a free kick that was crossed in by Akeel and headed into the goal by clever flick by Anis Somji which sees them back in contention for the tiltle.