The Hindu : Sport / Football : Punjab Police, BSF in final

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 13, 2005

Sport

Sport - Football

Punjab Police, BSF in final

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 12. In a repeat of last year's final, defending champion BSF will meet Punjab Police in the final of the 53rd B.N. Mullik memorial all-India police football tournament at the Chandrasekharan Nair stadium here on Sunday.

In the semifinals, a hat-trick by Parveen Kumar (53rd, 59th and 69th) powered Punjab Police to a 3-1win over Assam Rifles while BSF scored a 4-0 win over Nagaland.

BSF scored all its goals in a 10-minute blitz that left its rival gasping. Speedy winger Santhosh Kujur struck a brace (5th &15th minutes) to punish Nagaland for its sloppy defending. In between Ouseph bulged the net in the 13th minute as BSF led 3-0 after 15 minutes of play.

BSF slowed down the pace and played percentage football. It defended in numbers and relied on counterattacks to put pressure on its rival. The ploy worked as Santhosh Sethy completed the tally for the the securitymen in the second half.

In the Punjab Police-Assam Rifles encounter, the match came alive after a listless first half. The breakthrough came in the 53rd minute when Parveen gave a finishing touches to a fine move that orginated from the midfield. Parveen's second goal in the 59th minute from a zero angle dented the confidence of Assam players. However, Assam pulled goal back through hardworking midfileder Abel Sema in the 68th minutes. But Assam's joy was shortlived as Parveen killed any hopes of a fightback with his third goal in the very next minute.

The results (semifinals): Punjab Police 3 (Parveen Kumar 53rd, 59th & 69th) bt Assam Rifles (Abel Sema 68th); BSF 4 (Santhosh Kujur 5th & 15th, Ouseph 13th, Santhosh Sethy 72nd) bt Nagaland 0.

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