Saheer left-foot nails Mahindras

Saheer left-foot nails Mahindras
UNITED NEWS OF INDIA

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB 1: State Bank of Travancore, Thiruvananthapuram, beat Mahindra and Mahindra, Mumbai, by a solitary goal in the second leg encounter of the National Football League here tonight at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium.

Striker T Ashif Saheer scored the only goal of the match when the game was 18 minutes old. With this win SBT have avenged their three-nil defeat at the hands of Mahindras in the first leg of the league. They also took their points tally to 17 and propelled themselves to the sixth position in the league.

The day's match was a closely contested affair. SBT deserved their win for they revealed fine coordination in their ranks. Their frontliners Abdul Hakim, Ashif Saheer and Ignatius Sylvester gave a hectic time to the Mahindra defence with their speed and thrust.

The Mumbai side played in 4-4-2 formation while the SBT played 4-3-3.The lone goal of the match resulted from a clever move involving defender Sunil Kumar and strikers Ignatius and Saheer. Ignatius trapped a looseball from the centre circle and passed it to overlapping Sunil Kumar who advanced to the byeline before sending a pinpoint cross to Saheer. Wily Saheer unleashed a left-footed first timer which beat the diving 'keeper Virendera Singh all ends up.

Bagan prevail over ITI

CALCUTTA: Title aspirants Mohun Bagan overcame some anxious moments before suppressing Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) 2-1 here on Tuesday. Mohun Bagan's Uzbekistan-recruit Igor Shkvirin put his team in the lead five minutes before the interval and medio Basudeb Mondal struck the second goal midway through the second session in an exciting contest at the Salt Lake Stadium.

The visitors reduced the margin through Yousuf Ahmed in the 35th minute of the second session and could have found the equaliser had their forwards not squandered a few scoring opportunities that came their way in the action-packed second half. Bagan have now secured 25 points from 12 outings and were placed at the top of the points table, followed by ChurchillBrothers who have 23 points from 11 matches. ITI have managed just 11 points from 12 matches.

Wednesday's match
Salgaocar vs East Bengalat Fatorda Stadium, Goa.