BJEMS win MCL Cup Inter-school opener

Bhubaneswar: The 29th MCL Cup Bhubaneswar Inter-school Football Tournament got off to an entertaining start with Buxi Jagabandhu English Medium School (BJEMS) notching up a 4-0 emphatic win over Prabhujee English Medium School (PEMS) at Unit-VI Boys’ High School Ground here on Tuesday.
Rajiv Das was the architect of the BJEMS win, scoring a brace and doing the spadework for another goal. He was adjudged the player of the match. Pratyush Singh drew blood early in the second minute, heading home a free kick by Rajiv. The latter scored his first goal off a free kick in the 20th minute to put BJEMS 2-0 up at the lemon break.

Somesh Mohanty made the scoreline 3-0 with a stinging right-footer in the 33rd minute. Rajiv capped the victory two minutes later, converting a penalty kick with ease.
BJEMS would have won the match by a much bigger margin but for PEMS substitute goalkeeper, who saved at least three goals for his side. PEMS defence seemed vulnerable and committed repeated mistakes in clearing the ball from their zone.
Organised by Premier Football Club, Unit-VI Athletic Association, was inaugurated by Angul-Sukinda Railway Limited Managing Director Dilip Kumar Samantray. Odisha’s junior international badminton player Rutaparna Panda, who is being groomed by Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad, was felicitated on the occasion.

Football Association of Odisha vice-president Bhakta Ballav Das, Bhubaneswar Athletic Association joint-secretary Naba Ranjan Patnaik, member Priyanath Mishra, local Corporator Pranab Kishore Swain, Unit-VI Athletic Association president Tapan Kumar Mohanty, vice-president Prafulla Kumar Mishra and secretary Dillip Kumar Das were present..
Tomorrow’s matches will be played between St Joseph’s High School and Palasuni High School and DAV School, Pokhariput, and St Xavier’s High School, Kedargouri.