By Manpreet Singh Bhatia

Jamshedpur, Oct. 7: Hundreds of Jamshedpur FC fans made their way to the JFC fan park near Mody Park in Bistupur to support their team take on Bengaluru FC on Sunday evening.

After a quite first half as their team fell behind, the crowd went berserk after Jamshedpur’s very own Gourav Mukhi, a boy from the slum in Dhatkidih area of the city scored the first goal for his side in the 81st minute of the match to go level with Bengaluru FC.

This made the crowd go wild at the Fan Park and why won’t they as their hometown boy has been in the nick of things in his debut ISL match.

More than 2500 fans from across the city had assembled at the fan park cheering their side.

‘Scoring a goal against the top ISL side and that to in his first match of the league is a day to cherish for a life time. At 16, Gourav is the youngest player in the ISL to score a goal’, said Rishabh Agarwal who fails to miss a JFC game.

Fans went crazy beating drums and chanting ‘Gourav Mukhi or hero’.

‘Gourav is a local boy and to score a goal amongst the very best in the league is a big achievement. This will inspire many to join the game’, said a college student Arjun Singh.

Earlier, the fans were excited when the starting XI was announced and JFC’s marquee player Tim Cahill was included in the squad. Aussie legend debuted at the Indian Super League and fans just couldn’t contain the excitement.

The star player didn’t have much of an impact on the game and made way for Carlos Calvo in the 72nd minute of the match.

‘We were waiting for this moment from the day JFC signed Australian footballer. Cahill has played four world cups for his national team and was also part of the recently concluded world cup in Russia which itself is a big thing for Jamshedpur FC and Indian football. We hope that he gives his best I the next game’, said Utsav Mittal, a KPS Kadma School student.

Sunil Bhaskaran, vice president (Corporate Services), Tata Steel, senior official Rituraj Sinha along with JFC officials were also present at the fan park.