Calcutta: La Martiniere for Boys played sharp football as they edged out St Thomas' Boys' School by a solitary goal to retain the Keventer Cup inter-school tournament, organised by the Debanjan Sen Foundation, at the Heritage ground, on Sunday.
Yashkar Lama struck early for La Martiniere, and that eventually separated the two sides. The triumph also marked La Martiniere's third Keventer Cup title in four years.
Yashkar, a Lionel Messi fan, took his team ahead inside 10 minutes, as he latched onto a loose ball resulting from a defensive lapse and calmly placed a right-footer past the St Thomas' goalkeeper. Yashkar was adjudged Man of the Match.
St Thomas', too, had their moments in the game. A few of their attempts were saved brilliantly by rival custodian Brandon Murray, who turned out to be the best goalkeeper of the tournament. But what they rue most was the missed penalty at the fag end of this decider. The spot-kick looked to have come as a blessing for St Thomas' as till then, they had been doing everything right, but just couldn't find the target. It was up to Nawaz Ahmed to keep his team alive in the final. But his shot sailed over the crosspiece.
La Martiniere knew that the missed penalty was as good as a confirmation that the trophy was theirs for the taking. And their joy knew no bounds when the referee blew the final whistle seconds later. For St Thomas', they would have to wait for another year.
The game could have gone either way. Both teams had their share of chances and both goalkeepers came up with some very good saves. But the aspect that gave La Martiniere an edge was a better defensive organisation.
Their defenders occupied the right places at the right time, which limited the opposition's chances of scoring.
"The key to La Martiniere's triumph is self-belief. These players play with a lot of heart, and each and every one of them is very passionate about the game," coach Brian Gomes said amid celebrations.
The highest scorer of the tournament was also a La Martiniere player - Duane Andrews - while the Most Valuable Player's award was given to Arindam Das of St James' School with DPS New Town getting the Fairplay trophy.
