Mahatma Education Society’s Pillai College of Arts, Commerce and Science Football team has created history by becoming the First Navi Mumbai College to win the prestigious Mumbai University Inter-Collegiate Football Championship. A truly great achievement as they came first out of the more than 200 colleges who participated in the tournament.
They defeated Khalsa College in the finals by a score line of 1-0 held at the University Pavilion in Marine lines on the 11th October, 2015. Mohammad Ishaq was the Man of the Hour as he scored the winning goal of the match just before halftime.
Nikhil Poojari and his brother Vinil Poojari, Vaibhav Karpe and Daniel Muttu played exceptionally well for Pillai’s. The team was trained by coach Mangesh Daniel and guided by Prof. KT John.
This was the third time in succession that the Pillai team had reached the finals of the tournament. In the previous two years they lost the finals in nail biting encounters. But third time proved to be lucky for the Pillai team. They dominated the match from start to finish and were deserving winners of the tournament beating top teams such as Thakur College on their way to the finals.
Sandesh Puthran, captain of the team stressed, “Teamspirit and years of hard work were responsible for us winning the tournament”.
Star player Nikhil Poojary took time to thank the people behind the scenes such as the coaches and the management who supported the team throughout the year.
Dr. Daphne Pillai, Principal, Pillai College of Arts, Commerce and Science, commented, “We are truly very proud of the whole team. They promised us that they would win the tournament this year and practiced day and night to attain their goal. They truly deserve to be Champions.”
