STCJ Airoli Divine Force Reign Supreme at the 3rd Anisha Memorial Cup Football Tournament

Anisha Memorial Cup is an annual football tournament organized by team SHC Yuvajyothi of Sacred Heart Church, Ambernath and it is considered to be one of the biggest football tournaments when it comes to Inter-Parish Football events with the 2 powerhouses of Inter-Parish Football - Our Lady of Egypt, Kalina and Holy Cross, Kurla emerging as winners in the first 2 seasons. The 3rd season had some old and new teams & it was the first ever time that our football team - STCJ Airoli Divine Force participated in this tournament which had a prize pool of 25000 INR along with some stunning trophies and medals. After the draws were done, team STCJ were a part of Group B along with SHC Ambernath A (the strongest team of the home parish) and IJC Dombivli (the runners up of season 1) which meant that our path to the knockout stages was definitely going to be challenging and it would require our boys to be at their best to go further in this tournament. Organized on the 18th of October at Sarvadnya Sports Turf, Ambernath, our team was ready to face every parish that came in our way. Team STCJ Airoli Divine Force consisted of -Anlon Almeida -Jayson Nadar -John Varghese -Ronald Menezes (C) -Rex D'souza -Savaryson Nadar -Selwyn Santmajor -Wilson D'souza -Zion John

The group stage games were definitely easier than expected as our team qualified from Group B as winners by defeating Team SHC Ambernath A with a score of 3-0 and by winning 2-0 against IJC Dombivli. Our semifinal match was against one of the best teams of the tournament - Mary Matha Sakinaka and after an intense battle, it was STCJ Divine Force who won 2-1 after a 2nd half comeback to set up a blockbuster final with one of the best teams in the inter-parish circuit - Fatima Ambernath A. The finals had a lot of twists and turns, however, it was STCJ Divine Force that always had an upper hand despite playing against a team who had the entire crowd cheering for them, we managed to win the finals with a score of 2-0 despite being denied by the woodwork twice. A wonderful prize distribution ceremony followed where team STCJ Airoli Divine Force were given the winners trophy and their 15000 INR cash prize & Zion John won the player of the tournament award for scoring a goal in every game.

After tasting success at Inter-Parish Cricket and Table Tennis events, this was our first ever winners trophy at an Inter-Parish Football Tournament and it will definitely be remembered for many years to come as this was won at one of the best tournaments and against some of the best teams. The entire team dedicated this trophy to all our previous players and our parishioners, well wishers and supporters from Airoli. Team STCJ would also love to thank and appreciate team SHC Yuvajyothi for organzing this tournament in a very efficient way and for managing everything really well. It was a pleasure participating and we look forward to seeing them again soon.