MUMBAI : A determined Mumbai Customs maintained their winning form as they pulled off a close 1-0 win against leaders and defending champions Indian Navy in a Super Division match of the MHAL League 2017-2018, at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate on Wednesday. Customs, who had defeated Bombay Republicans on Monday, seemed to have settled down and put up a dogged performance against the sailors. They were aggressive in attack and compact in defence to deny the fast-paced Navy forwards from making inroads into their territory. This was Customs second straight win, while Navy suffered their first defeat after three wins and two draw, but they continue to stay on top with 11 points. The match-winning goal came from a swift counter-attack with Felix Baa sounding the boards with a clinical finish in the 29th minute.
The Customs outfit continued to hold the upper hand in the second period and also did well to foil the rival attackers from creating chances. Earlier, former champions Western Railway produced a strong second half to charge to a 6-3 win against Sports Authority of India (SAI). The goal-scorers for Western were Manjinder Singh (15th & 16th minutes), Rajin Kandulna (59th & 70th minutes), Manpreet Singh (57th minute, penalty stroke) and Osaf-ur-Rehman 61st minute). This was Western’s first win after two defeats and one draw, while SAI crashed to their third straight win. Western Railway’s forward Rajin Kandulna and Felix Baa who scored the winner for Customs won the ‘Man of the Match’ awards in their respective matches and both received a cash award of Rs 1,000 each. There will be no matches on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, Indian Navy meet Sports Authority of India at 2.30 pm and in the second match Western Railway clash with Mumbai Customs at 4.00pm.
