At the inaugural Sunfeast Dream Cream Roots Football League, the Cheetah won the Under-11 championship in dramatic fashion after a penalty shootout with the Eagles after they drew their last Super League match which left both the teams tied on points and goal difference. The Eagles earlier made a superb comeback after being two goals down to restore parity in the match.
In the Under-13 age category the Sharks defeated Eagles in a see-saw match before the Sharks prevailed 2-1 to be crowned champions. In the Under-15 age category Cheetahs continued their fine form to take the title, defeating Lions and Rhinos in their last two Super League matches.
Former Indian international Noel Wilson, and V.L. Rajesh (Executive VP, Marketing and Exports, ITC Ltd. - Foods Division) were part of the presentation ceremony. Noel Wilson, while speaking to the players and parents urged the parents to encourage their kids to take up football as a sport. Krishanji Rao, former national assistant coach and Deputy Secretary of the KSFA, was also present to encourage this first of a kind junior league in Bangalore which saw the participation of around 180 kids in the 3 age categories.
RFL which kicked off last December had league matches being played every Sunday. The registered players were earlier distributed among teams based on skill assessments and age to ensure the teams are balanced. Another notable feature of RFL is parent's involvements as team coaches for the various teams, assisted by qualified coaches of Roots Football School.
The league initiated by Game On Sports Management, which runs after-school football training programmes for kids in partnership with Sunfeast which has always been proudly associated with sporting events of such nature – World 10K Marathon, Sunfeast Open, etc. RFL aspires to create a football movement among kids and parents – the League will encourage more children in the age group to play football, thus broadening the base of football in our community.
Brief Scores, League Standings and Individual Winners
Under-11: Super League Scores1) Rhinos drew Sharks 2-2 (Rhinos: Riu -1, Yuvaraj P-1; Sharks Soham -1, Adit Nahar- 1)
2) Cheetahs def. Lions 4-2 (Cheetahs: Macarton 3, Saurabh 1; Lions: Ajay S -1, Shiu - 1)
3) Bisons def. Sharks 3-0 (Bisons: Rohaan- 1, Suman- 2)
4) Rhinos def Bisons 3-2 ( Rhinos:Neil -2,Yuvaraj P-1; Bisons: Gabriel-1, Suman-1)
5) Eagles def Lions 2-0 (Eagles: Nabeel-2)
6) Cheetahs drew Eagles (Cheetahs: Saurabh -2; Eagles; John S -2)
Final Standing: 1-Cheetahs, 2-Eagles, 3-Lions, 4-Rhinos, 5-Bisons, 6-Sharks
Individual AwardsBest Goalkeeper: Rhea Appachu (Eagles)
Best Defender: John S (Eagles)
Best Player: Raneesh Krishnan (Lions)
Highest Goal Scorer: Macartan Louis (Cheetahs)
Best Parent Coach: Nicky Appachu (Eagles)
Under-13: Super League Scores1) Cheetahs def. Bisons 5-3 (Cheetahs:Aryan-3,Manoj-1,Srinivas-1; Biscons;Siddharth-2, Manav-1)
2) Rhinos def. Bisons 5-0 (Rhinos: Sharvana-3, Mario-1, Ved-1)
3) Sharks def. Lions 5-1 (Sharks: Rudra-3, Anish-1, Vimal-1; Lions: Shrikritt-1)
4) Sharks def. Eagles 2-1 (Sharks: Rudra-1, Vimal-1; Jathin Jaykumar-1)
Final Standing: 1-Sharks, 2-Eagles, 3-Lions, 4-Rhinos, 5-Cheetahs, 6-Bisons
Individual AwardsBest Goalkeeper: Mani (Eagles)
Best Defender: Ved Devaiah (Rhinos)
Best Player: Arun Kumar (Sharks)
Highest Goal Scorer: Rudra Ved Moola (Sharks); Sharvana V (Rhinos)
Best Parent Coach: Arinjoy Ghosh (Sharks)
Under-15: Super League Scores1) Sharks drew with Bisons 1-1( Sharks: Ajith R-1; Bisons: Jairaj-1)
2) Bisons def. Eagles 6-1 (Bisons: Raghav Rao-4, Jairaj-1, Tapaswini-1)
3) Cheetahs def. Lions 4-1 (Cheetahs: Vikram S- 4; Lions: Deepu-1)
4) Rhinos def. Lions 1-0 ( Rhinos: Ranjith M-1)
Final Standing: 1-Cheetahs, 2-Rhinos, 3-Lions, 4-Bisons, 5-Sharks, 6-Eagles
Individual AwardsBest Goalkeeper: Steny Kiran (Cheetahs)
Best Defender: Rohan Shah (Cheetahs)
Best Player: Raghav Rao (Bisons)
Highest Goal Scorer: Vikram S (Cheetahs)
Best Parent Coach: P. Seshadri (Sharks)
The Karnataka State Football Association has named their final 20 players squad for the 67th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy which is being played from February 1 to March 3 in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.
