Army XI hold off ND Heroes to make quarters

new delhi, august 26: Defence didn’t figure in the gameplan of either the New Delhi Heroes or Army XI at the Ambedkar Stadium on Tuesday as they met for a place in the quarter-final league. Even after the latter’s 2-1 victory, the strategic differences remained unclear.

So Raghavendra Singh, Army XI chief coach, came up with a clue. “After their first-half lead, our target was to draw level. We knew if we score one, we will manage to get more. It’s all about the confidence. Our team was better prepared to play out 90 minutes,” he said.

In the tenth minute S Raleng came close to drawing first blood for Army XI with an inspired run through the right wing, only to hit wide of the far post.

But New Delhi Heroes kept pushing until a stunning header from Manish Khattri gave them a one-goal cushion. Khattri, unmarked by an otherwise vigilant Army XI defence pushed in Amjad Ali Khan’s free-kick into the left corner of the net in the 36th minute.

Army XI finally got the equaliser that many of their first-half moves promised. The double blow — Gordon’s 65th and skipper MG Ramchandran’s 81st minute strikes — that ended the local side’s hopes of getting through on goal difference.

In an inconsequential Group A match later in the day, Assam Rifles beat ASC Bangalore 3-0 .

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