The Hindu : Sport / Football : Tollygunge wary of SBT's home advantage

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 06, 2005

Sport

Sport - Football

Tollygunge wary of SBT's home advantage

By Our Sports Reporter

KOZHIKODE, FEB. 5. For Tollygunge Agragami, Kolkata, which plays State Bank of Travancore (SBT), Thiruvananthapuram, in the sixth round of the National Football League at the Corporation Stadium here on Sunday, the first priority is to get a draw.

``A win would be a bonus for us,'' team manager Shyamal Banerjee told reporters here on Saturday.

"SBT has home advantage and it's a very strong side. It will be very difficult to defeat them, especially when they are playing before a big crowd,'' Banerjee said.

Praising SBT's policy of not recruiting foreign players, Banerjee said: ``You have to spend a lot of money to get quality foreign players. We know how difficult it is to get enough financial support. Apart from the top three teams in Kolkata — East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting — the others have a tough a time.''

Tollygunge's coach Biswajit Das said he was fairly happy with the team's performance so far.

Focus on security

Meanwhile, Kozhikode District Football Association (KDFA) office-bearers said security would be tightened for the remaining NFL matches.

``Many people who had bought tickets for the SBT-East Bengal match couldn't watch the match. All this happened because some entered the Stadium with fake tickets," according to KDFA Secretary, A.V.M. Ashraf.

"Those who couldn't watch the last match, despite possessing valid tickets, can witness Sunday's action, if they produce the tickets."

He added the KDFA was not prepared to control a sell-out crowd on February 1. Ashraf said the KDFA was hopeful that it would be awarded all the home matches of SBT.

KDFA President, P.V. Ganghadharan, and Vice-President, A.K. Musthafa, also spoke at the press meet.

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

Sport