The Hindu : Sport : Amulraj stars for Indian Bank

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Monday, May 09, 2005

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Sport - Sports : General

Amulraj stars for Indian Bank

Special Correspondent

A shot in the arm for the Chennai side

CHENNAI: In a great comeback effort, Indian Bank, helped by the dream touch of veteran Amulraj coasted to a 4-1 win over Karnataka Police in a Group A match on Sunday in the NFL second division at the Nehru Stadium.

A win after a loss can be soothing and to be sure, for Indian Bank it was a shot in the arm. The team has to maintain the tempo in its next three matches but for now the pleasing aspect is that the local side has shown a touch of yore. For the worried coach V.P. Sathyan, it was a great gamble to have Amulraj in the first eleven and what is more be the key man in the frontline.

In his earlier days, Amulraj used to dazzle with his dribble and body feints but in recent times he has been more of a `short burst' player. How he geared himself to the team requirements formed the essence of the day's great show.

In the very fifth minute itself Amulraj tested the usually agile goalkeeper Nagendra and that set the tone. Harish next and then Joseph thereafter had a shy each to put the Bank attack in the right perspective. It required a Harish flag kick in the 38th minute for Amulraj to get his act right, a diving header after James Singh had relayed the ball to him to stump Nagendra.

But a needless show of indiscretion by Anandavasan in tripping Pradeep in the goal area cost the Bank dearly, at least momentarily, for a penalty was conceded and Sampath Kumar easily put it past Felix (58th minute).

Fortunately for Indian Bank happy tidings were to follow soon, again thanks to Amulraj, who showed the opportunism to deflect in a sharp cross from James Singh (65th).

The Police fight back failed to materialise in the wake of the overtime work in its defence. The arrival of Sabir Pasha only heightened that.

Pasha inspired Joseph to make it 3-1 (66th) and himself crashed a patented left footer from a cross from Anandavasan to the roof of the net (89th) to complete the Bank's memorable day out.

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