A stellar show from St Mary's (Mazgaon) goalkeeper Sinate Joshua helped his team pull off an upset 1-0 win over St Stanislaus in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association's (MSSA) inter-school U-14 Utpal Sanghvi Knockout tournament at Azad Maidan yesterday. The all-important goal for St Mary's ICSE was scored by Denzel Colaco.


St Mary's goalkeeper Sinate Joshua collects the ball ahead of
St Stanislaus Niranjan Kumar during an MSSA U-14 inter-school
Utpal Sanghvi knock-out match at Azad Maidan yesterday.
PIC Satyajit Desai

Joshua's 5-feet, seven frame, along with his basketball skills helped him come up with as many as five brilliant saves. Being a good student does help him get brownie points, but juggling studies and sport is something he feels he needs to work towards.

The 13-year-old played football till his U-12 days but thereafter switched to basketball given his height. But on football coach Bal Mukund's insistence, he got back to the beautiful game last year.

"Given Stanislaus'
reputation, I was a bit nervous before the match. But I am glad I could put my reach and basketball skills to good use today," Joshua said. Meanwhile, Stanislaus coach Jubal Soloman said: "Seven of our boys returned after a hockey match in Kolhapur only yesterday. They found it difficult to switch from hockey to football."