The Hindu : Sport / Football : HAL trounces BSF

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 24, 2004

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Sport - Football

HAL trounces BSF

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, MAY 23. Fans who braved the rains and thronged the Football Stadium had a merry Sunday as local favourites HAL trounced BSF 5-0 in a second division National Football League final phase match.

HAL's third victory from four matches helped it to join Fransa Goa and SBT atop the league with nine points each while Ever-Ready Association (5points), BSF and FC Kochin (both one point) languished at the bottom.

The three-way tie atop the points tally has forced a change in the schedule for the final round five matches. According to the All India Football Federation rules, if teams are tied at the top spot with just one set of matches to go, then the matches involving the tied teams should be held on the same day and at the same time. In the revised schedule, Monday will be a rest day and on Tuesday, HAL will take on SBT at the Football Stadium while Fransa Goa will clash against Ever-Ready Association at another venue that will be specified later. The league will conclude with the inconsequential match between BSF and FC Kochin on Wednesday.

It was indeed a perfect Sunday for HAL as Satish's brace, Sunil's header, Xavier's right-footer and a self-goal by BSF, left its fans in a tizzy.

Sunil's moment of glory came in the 38th minute as a Dayanand lob provided the perfect base for HAL's opening salvo. Sunil, despite having the BSF defenders hopping around him, jumped high and with a deft turn of his head put the ball into the rival citadel while goalkeeper Deepak Hazarika watched in dismay.

After the break, both teams struggled on the wet turf but HAL made the most of its luck and powered ahead in the 61st minute when Satish lent the finishing touch to an Eduado right-footer off a Dayanand flagkick. Satish was in the thick of action again as he slotted his team's third goal in the 72nd minute by latching onto a goalmouth rebound after Deepak Hazarika failed to block Dayanand's shot. BSF's misery continued unabated and five minutes later, substitute Sarbjit Singh's belated bid to clear Xavier's flagkick proved counter-productive as the ball deflected into the BSF goal. Meanwhile HAL continued to excel and during injury time, found another reason to celebrate with Xavier converting a Manju cross with ease.

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