Air-India force landing to hold ITI

Air-India force landing to hold ITI
RAYMOND FERNANDES

MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 20: Local crowd favourites Air-India, who were trailing by a goal at the breather, rallied splendidly to hold Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), Bangalore, 1-1 in the National Football League encounter at the Cooperage, on Tuesday.

In a fast-paced and lively encounter, ITI with four foreigners in their ranks, shot into the lead following a counter-attack in the 35th minute through Iraqi player Yusuf Hamed. The airmen, a ‘desi’ team but not ones to give in easily, fought back doggedly and restored parity in the 60th minute through Khalid Jamil who came up with a gem of a goal following a free-kick. The local team could then have clinched the issue, but two good saves by ITI goalkeeper Balaji thereafter prevented them from doing so.

The outcome of the game did precious little to the fortunes of both teams. The two continue to languish in the cellar, both with six points each to their credit from eight games. Air-India now play their next three first-leg games with heavyweights. They meet JCT, Mohun Bagan and the redoubtable FC Kochi in that order.

The first-half was evenly contested with both having three good chances each. ITI made the most of one to wrest the lead. The ball fell at Yusuf Ahmed’s feet after defender Osborn D’Souza, who was tackling ITI striker George Ekeh, fell to the ground and Ahmed, who was unmarked, pounced on the opportunity to score with a rising shot.

Air-India improved in the second-half after veteran Godfred Pereira and Henry Picardo came in for forwards Ratan Singh and Sabir Ali Mondal, ten minutes into the second-half. The contest was then fought out at a rough and furious pace. Referee Yusuf Khan, who showed six yellow cards, three to players of each team, had a tough time in keeping the game under control.

At one stage in the 65th minute, it looked as though a free-for-all would spark off after George of ITI and Air-India goalkeeper Mohamed Yousuf Ansari exchanged blows. But wiser counsel prevailed and things were brought under control by the wiser players in each side themselves.

Air-India’s equaliser was a beauty and drew applause from one and all in the near-empty stadium. Khalid Jamil left ITI goalkeeper standing following a fine curling shot from the left corner of the box.

Mahindra United take on Churchill Brothers tomorrow.

Bengal have it easy

Kolkata: Title-aspirants East Bengal capitalised on home advantage to trounce Vasco 3-0 and consolidated their position at the top of the points table at the Salt Lake Stadium here today.

East Bengal struck once in the opening session through medio Dipankar Roy and striker Omalaja Olaleken and defender Suleh Mussah found the target after the breather in a fast-paced encounter.

With this convincing victory, East Bengal maintained their position at the top of the points table, having secured 19 points from eight outings so far while Vasco have collected 13 points from as many as eight matches.

Spurred on by a vociferous home crowd, the local outfit shot into the lead five minutes before the interval when the hard-working Dipankar Roy slammed in from inside the box following a pass by Bijen Singh from the left flank.

Leading by a solitary goal at the interval, East Bengal stepped up the pace of the game and managed to pump in two more goals as the Vasco midfielders failed to check the onslaught. Midway through the second session Omalaja Olalekin found the target taking advantage of a faulty clearance by Vasco custodian Rogerio Ramos.

Omalaja, who had struck the lone goal in the last match against traditional rivals Mohun Bagan, showed very good reflexes as he placed the ball in after Ramos fisted away a blistering attempt by substitute Sur Kumar Singh.

A briliant header by defender Suley Mussah, who often comes upfront to assist the forwards, compounded Vasco’s misery five minutes before the long whistle, triggering off celebrations on the galleries.

JCT-Tollygunge draw

Ludhiana: In a lacklustre match, former champions Jagatjit Cotton and Textiles Mills, Phagwara, and Kolkota’s Tollygunge Agragami played a goalless draw at the Guru Nanak Stadium here.

JCT, weakened by the absence of star players including striker Deepak Mandal, attemped a come-back in the second-half, but failed to find the net. JCT had more to be upset with an injury forcing striker Hardeep Sangha to go off the ground after only 10 minutes of play.

Others in the JCT injured list included Jaswinder Singh Jassi, Hardeep Saini, Prabhjot Singh and Narinder Nindi. A series of raids by skipper Ram Lal in the dying minutes of the game was of no avail.

For Tollygunge, even the presence of three foriegn players Aboymi Felix, Xaliu Abdulwasim and A Meachilefi failed to make any difference.