In a historic achievement, debutants Real Kashmir FC has been crowned the Champions of the 123rd IFA shield on Saturday. The Snow Leopards defeated a gutsy George Telegraph side 2-1 to bag the prestigious title.
The match was played at the iconic Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata and goals from Lukman Adefemi and Mason Robertson wrapped up the match in favor of Kashmir. George Telegraph’s only goal of the match came early into the second half and was scored by Gouram Das.
Real Kashmir goalkeeper Mithun Samanta was declared the Man of the Match because of his brilliant penalty save in the dying minutes of the clash.
It has been an outstanding campaign for the David Robertson-coached team who remained unbeaten throughout the tournament. In what can be considered as a fantastic defensive display, the team conceded only 2 goals in the five matches they featured in.
One of the biggest highlights of their journey came in the semi-finals when Kashmir crushed Kolkata heavyweight Mohammedan Sporting 4-0. Talisman Lukman Adefemi scored a superb hat-trick in the second half with goals in the 59th, 66th, and 87th minutes. Kashmir’s final goal came in added time when Mason Robertson scored from a counter-attack.