The Hindu : Sport / Football : Muthuswamy does the star turn

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 08, 2005

Sport

Sport - Football

Muthuswamy does the star turn

Sports Reporter

Tiruchi: Local boy P. Muthuswamy hammered home three goals as Tamil Nadu registered an emphatic 7-0 win over Delhi in the opening fixture of the14th National under-21 football championship, for the Dutta Roy Trophy, at the St. Joseph's College HSS grounds here on Tuesday.

In the very opening minute, Muthuswamy, working for Tiruchi Customs, missed a sitter. However, the host kept attacking with each player trying to create a chance for the forwards. The crowd, rooting for Tamil Nadu, did not have to wait for long for the first strike.

It was Muthuswamy's opportunism which put Tamil Nadu ahead in the 28th minute. After receiving a cross from Suman, he made amends by putting the ball into the net.

Muthuswamy scored again in the very next minute, as Delhi custodian Abhay Thakur fumbled. The striker hit a weak shot at Abhay, who reacted casually only to see the ball brush past his hands and land into the net.

Down by two goals, one expected Delhi to go all out but that was not to be. Instead, the team conceded another goal in the 38th minute. Left-extreme Devaraj collected a long clearance from the defence and timed his approach to perfection to slam home a powerful right-footer past Abhay.

Making inroads again

In the second half, Delhi replaced Abhay with Sandeep Singh but the situation remained the same. Muthuswamy continued to make inroads into the Delhi penalty area and got into the scorers' list for the third time in the 69th minute. His powerful grounder beat Sandeep all ends up.

Muthuswamy got a breather when coach Thulasi substituted him with another local lad Charles Raymond. The latter wasted no time in getting into the act as he sidestepped a defender and Sandeep to score the fifth goal in the 76th minute.

The host had enough strength at the end too. Ruban Santhosh shot in the sixth goal (83rd minute) and quite fittingly captain Venkatesan, who played brilliantly right through, score the final goal in the 90th minute.

Wednesday's match: Punjab vs Services.

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

Sport