VNZP tournament

The Mavericks, on Sunday, the 20th of july, took a team of eleven players to play a tournament that was being organized for the first time. The first opponents were S.F.C, a team that had defeated the falcons in the Laker's tourney with a last minute goal.
The match started edgily, the Mavericks were visibly boosted by the return of playmaker Tushar Karmalkar. Faraz, Joshi, Chhedda at the back, Tushar, Devrat and Apte in the middle and Siddhu upfront were the starters. Lawande in goal being the fixture. The first half saw some rough play but Kamath came very close after a great one two with Karmalkar. But towards the end, Tushar scored to make it 1-0. That's how it remained till the break.
After the Break, a rejuvenated team came out, the ball was set rolling by the in-form man of the moment Pratik Apte as he scored two quick fire goals. One a brilliant thunderbolt which the keeper had no chance of saving. Siddhu was paid for his efforts as he scored a double with two brilliant finishes, the second one being sumptous as he went past 3 players before even nutmegging the goalie.
Wonder of wonders when even Faraz got in on the act with a superb shot in to the far corner. Tushar also got his second of the match when he tapped in from close range off a Siddhu cross.
Among the subs, Sumit came very close immediately after coming on, and so did Jathar, Akshay ran the lines well and overall an awesome performance from the entire squad.
line up: Lawande, Faraz(sumit),Joshi,Chhedda,Kamath(Jathar), Siddhu(Akshay),Pratik,Tushar.
Scorers: Siddhu 2, Tushar 2, Pratik 2, Faraz 1.

Brahmand Tourney Finals

Honestly, there isn't much to write about this match. Tired and fatigued, the Falcons performed way below their capacity and decapitated in front of a deserving team who thrashed us 4-1. The only goal we scored was an own goal.

All we can say is, that we shall beef ourselves up mentally, and perform under pressure. And a great run to the finals was rewarded by the award of Best Goalkeeper to Siddhu for his heroics in the shootout. The after party wasn't the most raucous we've ever managed, but Parth, Chandan, Omkar and Arpit graciously joined in our celebration.

Brahmand Tourney Match 3

This was the semi finals of a very exciting tournament. Having upstaged the favourites, the Falcons were buzzing, but with the home support, so were BSC.
The Falcons started the match on the up again, and within minutes went ahead. Another corner from Devrat this time, turned into the net brilliantly by Abhishek Jathar for 1-0.
The Falcons orchestrated play brilliantly and Siddhu in goal was rarely tested. Chhedda, Gaurav, Joshi were composed in the backline, while the return of Apte had boosted the midfield. With Devrat alone upfront, the midfield comprising Apte, Sumeet, Mihir and Jathar regularly joined up for strikes on goal. And the pressure paid off as Jathar fired in a thunderbolt from range into the far corner for his and the Falcons second. At the stroke of half-time, this was essentially game-over.
But the Falcons played well to hold on in the second half and in the dying moments, Devrat added gloss to the scoreline with a shimmy and a strike into the roof of the net for 3-0.
Hero of the match, Jathar and also Apte for his brilliant and tireless running and crossing.

Brahmand Tourney Match 2

The second match in this tourney was against a very well organised St.Pius team. With a few experienced uncles and a good setup, Pius were more than formidable adversaries.
Falcons meanwhile had to contend with the loss of flying winger, Pratik Apte. The game started well for the Falcons with a flurry of corners and playmaker Kamath's excellent delivery from corners caused a flutter in the organised Pius defence.
The pressure soon paid as the Falcons took the lead of a brilliant volley by their goalkeeper SIddharth Damle. Damle picked up the ball in his area and launched an unstoppable volley across the pitch into the top corner.
This seemed to have woken up the uncles. And in a matter of few minutes, they had turned the game 2-1 in their favor. They controlled possession, territory and aerial balls throughout and the Falcons looked dead and buried. But with their never give up attitude, the falcons pushed on. Deep into injury time they won a couple of free kicks and Devrat Kamath showed why he is regarded as a dead ball specialist on the second one. Faraz went on a forage down the right as the Falcons pressed on for an equaliser. His efforts paid as he won a crucial free kick. A delightfully chipped ball by Devrat over the wall reached Sumeet who could only shoot at the goalie who pushed the ball into Chhedda's path who ruthlessly tucked in for 2-2 and the whistle blew.
Penalties.
Siddhu went first and scored with a trademark placement.
Pius scored.
Devrat went second and scored brilliantly with a powerful shot into the roof of the net.
pius scored.
Chhedda came up with the penalty of the century when the keeper saved his shot which rebounded off the bar, hit the backside of the fallen goalie and rolled into the net.
pius scored.
Sumeet scored with a coolly placed penalty.
Siddhu saves.
Now all Mihir had to do was score. But somehow he managed to add to the drama by missing.
Pius scored.
Sudden Death:
Kaanya went first up and scored a fantastic penalty.
Siddhu stepped up to the plate and kept his nerves and denied pius the victory.
The Falcons erupted as everyone hailed the brilliant comeback.
Turkey anyone?

Brahmand Tourney Match 1

The Falcons faced the Zion F.C in the first match of the Brahmand tourney. It was a cagey affair with absurd conditions and poor refereeing. The Falcons could not play their usual slick passing game and were unable to build any momentum against an opposition who were intent on playing long balls. Tejas Chhedda and Faraz Virani did well to marshall the defence and Sudarshan Joshi and Virani were more than willing to join up in attack. With regular keeper Lawande opting to play for another team, Siddharth Damle started in goal. Though he was not tested much in the first half, Chhedda came very close to putting through his own net towards the end of the half. Apte and Jathar were looking good upfront with sporadic influence from Akshay Shendarkar while Devrat Kamath was having a tough time adjusting to the conditions and was not able to compete physically.
The second half saw much better play as Shendarkar took Damle's place in goal and Damle joined the attack upfront. A neat interchange saw Apte scoring a goal only to be disallowed by a poor offside decision. Jathar also saw himself on the wrong side of a bad decision. But with a minute to go, Jathar unleashed a belter and the Zion keeper could do nothing to stop the ball from going in. A narrow victory with a lot of dubious refereeing decisions.

Lineup:S.Damle,Virani,Chhedda,Joshi,Sumit,Kamath,Apte,Jathar,Shendarkar
Unused subs: Kaanya,Omkar, Mulay, Kolhatkar

Falcons F.C vs Kryptons F.C

The Falcons squared off against bottom of the table Kryptons F.C in a match that the Falcons simply could not afford to lose. The Kryptons came into this one on the back of 4 defeats on the trot meanwhile the Falcons were on a run of 2 draws and a defeat to table toppers Zeal F.C.
The Falcons were missing a number of influential players due to unavailability for selection. Most notable absentees were playmaker Tushar Karmalkar and winger Pratik Apte. But with more than able deputies in Sudarshan Joshi and Abhishek Jathar, the Falcons looked to kill this one before half time. The Kryptons, credit to them, who themselves were one player short started with 10 men and for one minute did not play as if they were a man down. They played positively for the entire 1st half and restricted the Falcons to only one chance which Anil Singh rebounded off the post. They also had a great opportunity when Chhedda tried to dribble in the box and gave away possession of the ball, a heart-in-the mouth moment from leftback Abhijeet Mulay saw the ball sailing over the post for a corner and no more.
The second half saw the Falcons making changes in the system. Chandan Gupta was drafted in to play centre back in place of Mulay. Sudarshan Joshi went to left back while captain Siddharth Damle slotted into the Centre of midfield alongside Lokesh. The breakthrough did come minutes into the second half as a decent freekick by playmaker Devrat Kamath found Damle unmarked in the box, Anil Singh tried to steer the deflection goalwards but the keeper parried straight to Jathar, who made no mistakes from a tight angle to give the Falcons a welcome lead. In a few minutes, it was 2-0 as Kamath turned sharply and slipped in Swaraj in space who crossed well for Singh to slot in a coolly taken goal. From that point onward it was Falcons all the way. The Falcons had a number of chances where Jathar, Singh and Kamath failed to capitalise.
The third came soon enough as Lokesh found Jathar in space. Kamath took up a brilliant position and with a fantastic drag and flick, bamboozled the keeper and tucked the ball in for a well-deserved goal. And as the icing on the cake, a blistering counter attack resulted in the fourth where Kamath went past 4 defenders before emphatically beating the Kryptons custodian.
With 2 games remaining, things are looking tight and the Falcons will have to be on their toes if they are to get anywhere this season.

Lineup: Lawande, Mulay(Gupta), Virani, Chhedda, S.Damle, Jathar, Swaraj, Lokesh, Kamath, Singh(P.Damle), Joshi.

Our new website

Falcons F.C is proud to announce the launch of it's new website (blog in the true sense).
Due to shortage of funds we've had to settle for a blog rather than buying a domain, but I assure you that this blog will carry latest team news, updates and player views on all matches concerning the Falcons and our sister concern, the Mavericks. Please keep visiting for news, views and reviews of all our matches.