The Hindu : Sport / Football : Saroj Das' hat-trick goes in vain

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 16, 2004

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Sport - Football

Saroj Das' hat-trick goes in vain

By Vijay Lokapally

NEW DELHI, OCT 15. Saroj Das' resilient stand against Sikkim stood out as Orissa put up a grand fight at the Chhatrasal Stadium in a Cluster VII match of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy here on Friday. Das scored a hat-trick as Orissa took the lead but failed to contain Sikkim and succumbed 3-4 in a thrilling contest.

At another venue, Punjab took time to discover its rhythm and slammed all its goals in the second half to register a 5-0 win against a spirited Chattisgarh in Cluster V at the Nehru Stadium. To the credit of Chattisgarh, it matched its opposition in the first session but as coach Shantanu Ghosh pointed out "we lost to a better team."

Das' performance was exemplary. He scored half an hour into the match but Sikkim, playing without Baichung Bhutia, hit back soon through Nelendra. When O. T. Nepcha put Sikkim ahead, the onus fell on Das who did not let Orissa down. It was enthralling stuff as Nelendra snatched the lead back for Sikkim. But Das was not through yet. He levelled the scores but the next strike by Sikkim came in injury time. It was too late for Orissa, and Das to script a revival. Das and Orissa lost the match but won lot of admiration for their performance.

A weak header by Gurjit Singh Atwal was quite frustrating for the Punjab team and then Baldeep Singh surprised the opposition with his speed but his attempt to float the ball into the box was weak. Gurjit was struggling to be in the right position and the first half ended on a disappointing note for Punjab. But not for Chattisgarh, playing its first National Championship and testing a squad that players mainly from Bengal, now working with Railways.

Punjab began scoring when Gurjit headed in a flag kick from Baldeep, who increased the lead with a top of the box placement. Manjit Singh came in for Gurjit and knocked in two goals while Praveen Kumar completed the tally.

In Cluster VI at the Chattrasal Stadium, Karnataka overcame Haryana by a 66th minute goal scored by Xavier Vijay Kumar.

In a 1-1 draw at the Nehru Stadium, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh split points in Cluster VI. Ashfaq Quereshi put Rajasthan ahead and Ravinder Thakur equalised in the second half.

In a well-contested Cluster V match at the Nehru Stadium, Meghalaya hit back against Tripura to win 5-2. Swapan Rai scored two goals to put Tripura ahead but Meghalaya tamed the opposition through goals by Edmund Kharkongor (2), Roding Sangma, William Umwi and Aiboklang Aharpran.

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