The Regional Qualifiers of the Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) came to conclusion as 20 teams across nine regions made it through to the National Group Stage. Let’s take a look at how the final week of the Qualifiers panned out across different regions.
Mumbai Region
The Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC) concluded a fantastic campaign where they finished the qualifying stage with 10 wins in 10 matches. The team left no room for errors and delivered a massive statement of their quality and issued a warning to the teams across the country on what they can expect in the further stages.
In the final week, RFYC picked up crucial wins over India Rush (5-0), PIFA (4-0) and Mumbai City FC (4-1). In-form striker Vian Murgod finished as the top scorer of the region with seven goals to his name.
The Young Champs were joined by Hero Indian Super League side Mumbai City FC in the National Group Stage, as they finished second in the table with 19 points. The Islanders picked up a comfortable 2-0 win over PIFA to seal their berth in the RFDL National Group Stage.
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South Region
Down South, the Regional Qualifiers saw a topsy-turvy competition between Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC, Sreenidi Deccan FC and Kickstart FC. The top four teams tussled to make it through by occupying the first two positions in the regional table.
The Blues swept clean in the final three games as they picked up back-to-back victories to ensure their place at the top of the table. They were followed by Hero I-League side Sreenidi Deccan FC in second place. The Warriors managed to edge past the Marina Machans in the final round of the Reliance Foundation Development League Regional Qualifiers to take their tally to 19 points, just one point above Chennaiyin FC.
East Region
The competition in the East region too went down to the wire as the royalties of Kolkata football ATK Mohun Bagan FC, East Bengal FC and Mohammedan SC vied for the National Group Stage spots.
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Over two legs of the Kolkata Derby, East Bengal FC managed to remain unbeaten while picking up a crucial 2-0 win over the Mariners on the final day to seal the top spot in the table. The first leg between the Kolkata giants had ended in a 1-1 draw. The Red & Gold Brigade had also defeated the other Kolkata giant Mohammedan SC twice in the progression phase of the Regional Qualifiers.
ATK Mohun Bagan, followed their arch-rivals’ footsteps to finish second after defeating Mohammedan SC 1-0 and 4-1 respectively in the progression phase. William Lalgoulien (Mohammedan SC) and Suhail Ahmad Bhat (ATK Mohun Bagan FC) finished as the top scorers of the region with six goals each.
Goa Region
Favourites FC Goa extended their lead at the top of the Goa region table with wins over Velsao Sports and Cultural Club, Churchill Brothers FC and SESA FA in their final games of the phase. The wins took their points tally to 26 as they ended the campaign unbeaten in 10 games.
The Gaurs topped the charts across departments as they maintained the most number of clean sheets (7), scored the most number of goals (19) and also had the highest goalscorer of the region in Saish Gaunkar who netted four times.
On the other hand, Velsao SCC made the cut to the National Group Stage after a jubilant 5-0 win over Dempo SC on the final matchday. The three points turned out to be crucial for the team as they finished the campaign two points above the Eagles.
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Additionally, Ramthar Veng FC from Mizoram and Kerala Blasters FC from Kerala also made it to the National Group Stage, being the third-best ranked teams across all regions. The two sides finished their Regional Qualifiers campaign with 20 and 19 points respectively and were the final teams to make it to the next phase.
The National Group Stage is composed of four groups of five teams each. The table-toppers of each group will go on to feature in the National Championships Stage.
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