Cheetah won the U-11 championship of the Sunfeast Dream Cream Roots Football League 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 U-13 age category the Sharks defeated Eagles in a see-saw match before the Sharks prevailed 2-1 to be crowned champions. In the U-15 age category Cheetahs continued their fine form to take the title, defeating Lions and Rhinos in their last two Super League matches.

Noel Wilson, former India International and VL Rajesh (Executive VP, Marketing and Exports, ITC Ltd. – Foods Division) were part of the presentation party. 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 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.

(Roots Football League Press Release)

Brief Scores, League Standings and Individual Winners

Under-11 | Super League Scores
1) 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
1st: Cheetahs
2nd: Eagles
3rd: Lions
4th: Rhinos
5th: Bisons
6th: Sharks

Individual Awards
Best 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 Scores
1) 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
1st: Sharks
2nd: Eagles
3rd: Lions
4th: Rhinos
5th: Cheetahs
6th: Bisons

Individual Awards
Best 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 Scores
1) 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
1st: Cheetahs
2nd: Rhinos
3rd: Lions
4th: Bisons
5th: Sharks
6th: Eagles

Individual Awards
Best 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)