The Hindu : Sport / Football : Hindustan holds FC Kochin

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 02, 2004

Sport

Sport - Football

Hindustan holds FC Kochin

BANGALORE, MAY 1. Chimaokwu Felix's 72nd-minute strike helped Hindustan FC hold FC Kochin to a 1-1 draw in the Second Division National Football League Group A match at the Football Stadium here on Saturday.

FC Kochin dominated the match, with its goal coming from Theodore Wrobeh in the 52nd minute, until Felix ruined its near-perfect evening to help his side claw its way back into contention.

In a barren first half, Felix managed a few futile runs, but his moment arrived after the break. Sanjeev's corner kick, headed in by Jamiu Logun, was feebly blocked by FC Kochin goalkeeper V. Santosh. Felix latched on to the rebound and shot the ball home. The goal, which came against the run of play, seemed to fire up the Delhi outfit up and FC Kochin soon saw itself back-pedalling to avoid further dents in its citadel.

Felix nearly performed an encore as a Salim Javed cross found him. But in his enthusiasm to score, he ran into the FC Kochin goalkeeper. He did slot the ball home but the goal was disallowed by referee Dhanraj More since he had obstructed the goalkeeper. The match then meandered towards a draw.

Earlier, FC Kochin set the game's pace as Philip Tarlue harried Hindustan FC's goalkeeper Navjot Singh. Two headers that went teasingly close to the goal were perfect appetisers and Tarlue continued to hound the rival defence with his top-of-the-box stingers, hustling the Delhi team. Though Tarlue caused problems, it was his fellow-striker Wrobeh who managed to scored. A Genius Zenith diagonal helped Wrobeh bulge the Hindustan FC net as Navjot Singh failed to block the shot. FC Kochin continued to hold sway until Felix stepped in and helped Hindustan FC wrest a draw in its second match.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport