Vidya Valley down St. Joseph (Ghorpari)
4-3 in tie- breaker

Penalty shootout had to be applied after match ends 1-1 in regulation time.

Pune 21^st July

Vidya Valley School orchestrated an upset as they shot last year's runners-up St. Joseph (Ghorpari), 4-3 via a tiebreaker to cement their place in the under 18 segment of the Surendra Anand Memorial Inter-School Football Tournament at the SSPMS ground here on Friday. In a hard fought encounter, Vidya Valley were off to a rousing start as Raveesh Salelkar opened the account in the very first minute of the match. Raveesh took advantage of an unsettled St Joseph deep defense and scored the goal on his own, displaying brilliant dribbling skills and ball control.

Vidya Valley 's joy was short lived. St. Joseph gave a fitting reply by scoring the all-important equalizer in the fourth minute. Anthony Dominic brought his team back into the match after the early shock given by Vidya Valley. Both the teams displayed football of the highest order. Vidya Valley made some smart moves through in-form center forward Raveesh Salelkar and mid-field Vatsal Singhania, who showed good combination and co-ordination.

St. Joseph struggled to build on their confidence after scoring the equalizer. They looked rusty and showed a lot of nerves. Throughout the first half Vidya Valley dominated possession and frustrated the St. Joseph forwards who were very tightly marked through out the match.

Raveesh Salelkar was once again in the thick of action in the dying minutes of the first half when he once again penetrated St Joseph defensive line, but was unable to score a goal as his shot lacked power and was easily blocked by the St. Joseph custodian. St. Joseph, who endured anxious minutes in the dying moments of the first half, did well and denied Vidya Valley the opportunity to go ahead once again. The action packed first half ended with the score line 1-1 with a lot to play for in the second half.

The pattern of the first half continued in the second half as well. Vidya valley continued to assert their dominance. In the second half, Vidya Valley made a few changes to their line up. Mid-field Anand Sadana was added to the line-up.

The trio of Anand, Raveesh and Vatsal weaved attacking moves and raided the St. Joseph territory on a regular basis. Vidya Valley forwards made attacking moves, but lacked the accuracy to score goals, as a result of which they were unable to add further goals to the tally. The regulation time ended 1-1 and the match entered the pulsating tiebreaker.

Goalkeeper Siddharth Avadhani was the star performer in the tiebreaker, as he made two scintillating saves to put his team in the driver's seat. Siddharth saved two spot kicks of Anthony Dominic and N. Javed of St. Joseph.

Vidya Trump a surprise for coach Avinash (Dixit)

Pune 21^st July 2007:

Football coaches are usually vocal and are involved in the game all the time, but Vidya Valley coach Avinash Dixit goes about his work in his own sedate style. He does not belong to the school of coaches who believe in shouting at his players, but keeps track of the proceedings through his sharp observations.

The hard earned victory against the top outfit like St. Joseph was a bit of a stunner for the coach, as he never expected his Under-16 team to beat a team like St. Joseph (Under-18) and register a place in the quarter finals.

"This is our best performance till date. I have no words to express my feelings", said the ecstatic Vidya Valley coach.

Vidya Valley, who are playing in the under 18 segment for the first time, has surprised one and all after the win over red-hot favourite St. Joseph."Before the match we never thought that we will win. We just wanted to compete hard and the boys played out of their skins and authored a superlative win. The victory has come as a confidence booster for the rest of the tournament," said the coach.

The coach eulogized Raveesh Salelkar for his brilliant work in the match. According to Avinash Dixit, "Raveesh possesses a lot of talent and his early goal in the match changed the complexion of the game and also gave the boys the self belief that they can beat the best in the business."

Vidya Valley defense and especially goalkeeper Siddharth Avadhani came up with a fine display under pressure and largely helped Vidya Valley to take the match into tiebreaker. "The defense handled the pressure brilliantly and never allowed St. Joseph to take a lead which, in the end, proved decisive," said Avinash.

With this victory Vidya Valley has become the firm favourite for the title but Avinash believes there is a long way to go. "At the moment we are concentrating on the quarter finals. Clinching the titles is not on our minds. We will give off our best and if we win then nothing like it," the coach added.

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