The Hindu : Sport / Football : SBT earns promotion

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Wednesday, May 26, 2004

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Sport - Football

SBT earns promotion

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MAY 25. A streak of Hitchcockian suspense was built into the final moments of the second division National Football League with fortunes for the three teams battling for two promotion places swinging back and forth like a yoyo. At the end of it all, a second-minute goal by Ignatius for State Bank of Travancore and a jaw-dropping save by its goalkeeper Harshal Rahman barely minutes from the final whistle contrived to help the Thiruvananthapuram side shut local giant HASC 1-0 at the Bangalore Football Stadium this evening.

On the weight of this exciting victory, SBT managed to top the final phase with 12 points, the same number as Goa's Fransa which pulled off a 2-1 victory over Kolkata's Ever-Ready at the nearby Ethiraj Stadium, MEG Centre. SBT's better goal-difference, +5 to Fransa's +4, eventually did the trick. Both teams, however, made it to the main NFL stream at the expense of HASC.

There was indeed a touch of theatre at both the venues. HASC, enjoying a distinct advantage in goal-difference in comparison to both SBT and Fransa needed a draw to clinch one of the two berths on offer. To stay afloat, Fransa had to win at any cost. For SBT the priorities were clear-cut.

This being the backdrop, the contest between SBT and HASC was obviously an ebb and tide variety. Overnight rain had made the pitch far from normal. Watery patches put a premium on reflexes. Slushy slides were more the rule than the exception. The conditions being so demanding, even a die-hard SBT supporter, let alone any of the red-shirted men down there, would have visualised a dramatic goal as early as the second minute. That the goal was triggered by an innocuous throw-in adds to its incredulity. The HASC defenders at least, thought nothing much of this throw from the left until SBT's Lanel Thomas made a surprisingly strong cross out of it for the fast advancing Ignatius to boot the ball in.

It caught the HASC defence totally off guard. But for this one flaw, the HASC goalkeeper Amit Singh Ray had an outstanding game with several nick-of-time saves. That is the irony of it all. The streak of fortune HASC had in preventing more goals from SBT just did not stay with the side when it came to scoring that one goal which would have made a world of difference.

Quite amazingly that is how this game panned out for HASC. The ball just refused to roll its way. There was this inescapable feeling throughout this contest that SBT could do nothing wrong and HASC nothing right.

With both teams under enormous pressure, SBT to consolidate its early gains and HASC to look for that one goal that would give it the end result it had been so desperately hoping for to bolster its image after that slip down to this category, the contest threw up numerous attacking patterns.

HASC may probably take a long time to figure out what actually went wrong on the day. The team could not be faulted any way for lack of effort. It was just that most of the time and in many of the moves, HASC would invariably play itself into the SBT hands. This was manifest in those innumerable mispasses that stunted the HASC progress many times over.

Sunil was closest to scoring when he positioned himself well inside the box but his volley was way off target. Xavier had a couple of purposeful runs down the flanks, while Daya, not so effective in the first session, came into his own in the second. But somehow, HASC ended up playing second fiddle and allowed SBT a lot of space and possession.

SBT frontliners Abdul Hakkim and Mohammed Rafi jelled well with Ignatius. It was this trio that often tormented the HASC defence. With the ball clearly rolling in favour of SBT, it was obvious that HASC had to raise its profile to the very best to make a match of it. Even as the HASC goal survived a narrow squeak or three like that brilliant tip over by Amit Singh Ray off a firm shot by substitute Anil Kumar late in the game and a goal-line save by Obina Winners when Anil was dangerously close to scoring, the striking rhythm seem to desert the local side. Xavier had a snipe or two.

Earlier in the morning, FC Kochin defeated BSF 6-2. Mohammed Shafiq (2), Samuel Jackson (2), Philip Tarlue and Rocky Kom scored for the victors, while Harvinder Singh and V. Sunil chipped in with consolation goals for BSF.

Fransa also makes it

Sitting on the sidelines, Shabbir Ali was a picture of nervous energy till the final whistle blew and he broke into a relieved smile. He said, "This perhaps is the greatest moment in my life."

The overwhelmed coach had his reasons. His team - Fransa Goa - had just defeated Ever-Ready Association 2-1 at the Ethiraj Stadium in MEG to emerge second in the Second Division National Football League that concluded here on Tuesday. Fransa finished with 12 points from five matches while Ever-Ready had five from five outings. "This is what we have worked for, all year long," said Goa's Sports Minister Xavier Pacheco before being mobbed by the players.

A whiff of a Fransa victory emerged in the early minutes as Mohammed Najeeb fired in a rebound after Ever-Ready goalkeeper Gautam Das failed to collect an Emerson Da Silva salvo in the fifth minute. Ever-Ready pinned its hopes on Eugene Gray to make a comeback and the African did strive hard but he lacked support upfront and the Kolkata outfit was resigned to a 0-1 score at the break.

However fortunes changed for a brief while in the second half and in the 48th minute, Eugene Gray swivelled and slammed in a long-range right-footer off a loose ball from the midfield and caught Fransa goalkeeper Juje Siddi unawares.

Siddi stood transfixed as the ball cannoned in after striking the crosspiece to usher in the equaliser. Fransa, however, continued to chip and charge with Emerson Da Silva testing the rival defence despite some close marking by Bimal Sarkar.

Fransa's resilience yielded quick rewards and four minutes later, Remedious Barreto breathed fire in a freekick as his 20-yarder sailed over the wall and bulged the net.

The final tally (read under `played', `won', `draw', `loss', `goals for', `goals against', `points', `goal difference'): 1. SBT 5-4-0-1-7-2-12- (+5); 2. Fransa 5-4-0-1-7-3-12- (+4); 3. HAL 5-3-0-2-8-3-9- (+5); 4. Ever-Ready Association 5-1-2-2-3-4-5- (-1); 5. FC Kochin 5-1-1-3-9-10-4- (-1); 6. BSF 5-0-1-4-3-15-1-(-12).

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