#NSL360: Delhi Private School Dubai fightback to progress to U-16 semis

Matt Jones - Editor 10:41 01/02/2016
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  • Back from the brink: Arjun Khurana (c) celebrates giving his side a 3-2 lead.

    Their 4-3 victory against New Indian Model School Al Ain had it all: goals, comebacks, drama, joy and heartbreak.

    DPS fought back commendably from going 2-0 down in the first half to triumph, with four goals coming in a manic final five minutes.

    DPS brought it back to 2-2 and must have thought the comeback was complete when Arjun Khurana netted to make it 3-2. NIMS had other ideas though and equalised to surely send the game to extra-time. Barely 30 seconds later, however, a speculative punt up field was spilled into his own net by goalkeeper Nishad Koderi, and DPS held on for victory.

    “It was a really good game,” man-of-the-match Sidhant Nayar, 16, said. “We were 2-0 down at half time and in the end we won.

    “To come back like that was unimaginable. It shows that we will never give up and keep fighting
    until the last whistle.”

    Defeat was extremely harsh on NIMS, whose players lay strewn on the field at the final whistle, their energy sapped. They had travelled to Dubai with just seven players, four unable to play due to exams and their coach Ameer Ali moderating. “We’re really disappointed about the result,” said striker Osama Baloushi.

    “We only had seven players because four had exams and the coach was moderating. There was no way of getting around it but we still should have won, we were 2-0 up and it’s really disappointing to lose.”

    Al Yasmina School progressed 2-1 following a titanic tussle with DPS Sharjah. A fiery game was more notable for a flurry of yellow cards and several off the ball incidents, although Yasmina coach Adam Hodson said it showed how seriously both teams were taking the NSL. “You can see what it means to them with the celebrations at the end,” said Hodson. “It was a feisty game but that shows how much it meant to both teams. The boys have not stopped talking about it since they came back to school. They were really up for it.”

    Man-of-the-match Ahmed Al Hosani added: “We want to win this tournament, we are desperate to do so and didn’t come all the way from Abu Dhabi not to win.”

    In the other two games, tournament favourites LFI sauntered to a 6-1 win against Alkamal American School while Indian High School completed the last four line-up with a 2-0 triumph over Salman Farsi School.

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