Prakash ’tricks A-I into submission

Prakash ’tricks A-I into submission
DHARMENDRA JORE

MUMBAI, MARCH 02: RC Prakash’s hat-trick gave defending champions Mohun Bagan a 3-0 win over local outfit Air-India in the National Football League (NFL) match here at the Cooperage on Friday. Prakash fired two goals in the first half and one after the break.

In the 10th minute, Prakash pushed a Lopes header into the net to give Bagan 1-0 lead. His second came a minute before the break. Air-India’s Jameel had taken the ball into Bagan citadel, but M Suresh snatched it away from the rival and passed it on to Jayanta Sen who then fed Prakash, to lob it straight into the net. A-I custodian MY Ansari had moved much ahead of the net and could do nothing but watch the ball travel over his head.

Prakash scored his hat-trick in the 89th minute. Substitute James Singh tried his skills to beat goalkeeper Ansari but the ball rebounded of his (Ansari’s) legs. Prakash put the rebound back into the net giving Bagan an unbeatable lead.

Air-India could have reduced the margin at least by two goals, but for Athnony Fernandez and Khaleed Jameel’s failure to convert the chances that came their way. Minutes after the break Fernandez just froze and hit wide when there was nobody except Bagan goalie Rajat Ghosh Dastidar in front of the net. A controlled tap would have helped the striker dodge the custodian.

The second half, however, saw airmen play reasonably good football. They continously moounted attack putting Bagan defence under pressure. But lack of coordination and some bad luck denied them few goal. The 75th minute gave airmen one more chance to score a goal when they were awarded a penalty. Jameel took the kick, but it landed straight in Dastidar’s gloves.

Bagan’s Lopes, despite his good showing, could not find a place among the scores. He led the attack umpteen times, but faulty finishing proved to be his nemesis. Referee K Shanker off-side decision denied him a goal in the 20th minute of the second half.

SBT hold Tollygunge

KOLKATA: State Bank of Travancore (SBT), lying at the bottom of the points table, put up a spirited show to hold local challengers Tollygunge Aggragami to a 2-2 draw at the Rabindra Sarovar stadium here. With this draw, Tollygunge have secured eight points from ten outings while SBT have just five points from as many matches.

The visitors shot into the lead as early as the eighth minute when an alert Abdul Naushad tapped the ball into the goal after Ignatius headed the ball towards him. None of the defenders were in position to foil the move.

But the home team found the equaliser two minutes later with the hard-working Bhabani Mohanty coming to the rescue of the team with a brilliant effort. Mohanty flung himself full length before heading the ball in following a measured centre from the left flank by medio Sasti Duley.

But SBT forged ahead in the 30th minute when striker Abdul Hakkim, fed by a gentle pass by Ignatious, lobbed the ball into a vacant goal capitalising on a defensive lapse. Trailing 1-2 at the interval, the home team stepped-up the pace of the game and the move seemed to pay dividends as they managed to find the equaliser within ten minutes after the breather.

Striker Emeka was thrilled to see his goalward attempt bear fruit as SBT defender V Sivakumar deflected the ball into his own goal giving no chance at all to the custodian Feroze Sharief.

East Bengal defeat JCT

LUDHIANA: Srikant Datta scored in the dying moments as East Bengal defeated hosts JCT Phagwara 1-0 in a National football league match here on Friday. The all important goal came two minutes before the final whistle off a pass from Chandan Das after the first half remained barren despite some good moves from both the sides.

JCT made a good move in the first half when Hardeep Gill tried to connect a pass from Jaswinder Singh from the right flank, but East Bengal goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee foiled the attempt.

East Bengal continue to be at the top of the table with 25 points from 10 matches of which they have won eight. JCT on the other hand are at the bottom with four points from six matches lost and four drawn.