The dejected look on the face of Osian New Delhi Heroes’s coach Chima Okerie said it all after his team lost their pre-quarterfinal match to Assam Rifles 2-3 in the ongoing Durand Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium on Friday.

The Delhi champions, with a completely new team, were off colour and never in control. And Chima knew it well. “We’ve got off to a bad start in the tournament. The boys never played quality football and we never seemed to combine as a unit,” he said. The lack of co-ordination between the flanks and strikers was clearly visible among the hosts.

In contrast, Assam Rifles dominated right from the word go, netting their first goal in the 43rd when Thaiba Singh’s free-kick from outside the box was headed in by Abel Sema.

The second half gave ND Heroes a reason to smile as a corner from Marlangki found Manish Khattri unmarked and the striker’s powerful header helped Okerie’s wards equalise. But their happiness was short-lived as Assam Rifles scored in the 63rd and 68th minutes to make the score line 3-1.

First it was skipper Ajit Kumar who lobbed the ball from left to the far post and it was Sema again who headed the ball in. Minutes later, Ajit was again the initiator as his inside the box was well received by Meikengai Kumai to score off his left foot.

Controlling the game with short passes, the Assam Rifles defenders kept the Heroes strikers at bay, but a foul in the 83rd minute helped Heroes reduce the deficit. Brazilian recruit Iteue was brought down inside the penalty box and referee AK Ghosh immediately awarded a penalty which Iteue had no problems in converting.

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