July 31: Hotel Centaur came back from the brink of defeat to draw 2-2 with Naval Dockyard in their Mumbai District Football Association Harwood League encounter at the St Xavier's ground, Parel.Trailing 0-2, Centaur fought back well to level the score with two goals in the second half.The first goal of the match came in the 25th minute from Dockyard's right-wing back, Patrick George, after Augustine George was brought down near the goalpost resulting in a free kick. The ball bounced back from the `wall' to George who made no mistake in scoring.With a 1-0 lead, Naval Dockyard increased the margin just three minutes into the second session with their second goal by left-half Praveen Goveas.But Dockyard could not hold onto the 2-0 lead for long. Centaur reduced the margin in the very next minute through left-wing back Fitz Gerald D'Souza With the match cruising at 2-1 in favour of Dockyard, Centaur struck again. Defender Ramnarayan Nair scored, eight minutes before the final whistle after having missed some chances earlier in the game.Centaur striker Savio D'Sa tried to score from a distance but the ball went straight to the goalkeeper, Jonas D'Souza. But the ball slipped from his hands and Nair, who was close by, pushed the ball into the net, levelling the scores 2-2.After today's game, Hotel Centaur have two points with two draws and one loss while Naval Dockyard have four points with two wins from three matches. A Division II Chhatrapati Shivaji League match, played earlier during the day, saw PD Hnduja Hospital get better of Mumbai Mahanagar Palika Kreeda Bhavan (MMPKB).Hinduja beat MMPKB, 1-0, Santosh Kokate scoring the lone goal of the match.Tractors hold MuslimsMahindra Tractors and Bombay Muslims dished out a 1-1 draw amid pouring rain in the Western India Football Association's Senior Division League match at the Cooperage this evening.After a barren first session, Bombay Muslims surged ahead in the 77th minute when Tractors goalie Sandesh Mohite made a hash of the collection, leaving enough daylight between his legs for Stanny D'Souza to boot in from close.Muslims' joy was shortlived as three minutes later, defender Girish Desai was guilty of clearing a flag-kick into the goal! In a Division I encounter, Godfather rode on Jafer Sheikh and Mohd Iqbal's goals to upstage Versova Boys 2-0.
