St. Xavier’s College, Jaipur’s footballing team went up against the team from Ramanujan College (RC) in an exciting Group D encounter at 10:30 AM on 14th September. The match lived up to the crowd’s expectation, with a late goal by Manan getting St. Xavier’s over the line to win the match 1-0.
The game started off with both sides aiming to get onto the front foot. Xavier’s held most of the possession in the first half, but they couldn’t get past the resolute defence of RC. Surprisingly, the teams resorted to playing long balls instead of holding possession, despite their short passes appearing immensely threatening.
Both sides put in hard tackles to protect their goals and get the ball. Tempers soon began to flare, with players punching one another on the field. Members of both sides were booked, and the referee, who initially looked almost scared to intervene, eventually stepped in to calm down the adversaries. Near the end of the first half, Xavier’s had a glorious opportunity to score with a free kick in a dangerous position close to the goal. The ball soared towards the goal and struck the crossbar, much to the agony of the attacking team. After an intense first half, the referee blew the whistle, and the teams went back to discuss viable strategies.
The second half started off with the team from Jaipur pressing further up the pitch. They were able to create more opportunities, but their shots often went wide from close range. They also hit the side netting, to the dismay of the crowd, which celebrated too early on numerous occasions. RC’s defence became more vulnerable as the game progressed, with players cramping up due to the heat. It almost seemed like RC was trying to run down the clock, as the team gave away petty fouls and increased the yellow card count. The tactic failed, as the constant pressure by Xavier’s finally paid off—a defensive error by RC provided Manan with an easy one-on-one opportunity, which he slotted away comfortably. The Xavier’s camp went ecstatic with the players celebrating wildly. With five minutes to go, the Xavier’s team was able to run the clock down and wrap up a hard fought 1-0 win. At the end of the match, the BOSM English Press Club was unable to get in touch with the winning team captain, as he ran around with his team, celebrating shirtless. Clearly someone was in a good mood.