NEW DELHI: Rabin Shrestha scored the second `sudden-death' goal to give Nobel Academy, Kathmandu, the win against Government Model High School, Chandigarh, in the Subroto Cup junior football tournament final at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Thursday.

The two teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time and 15 minutes of extra-time in the final. In the first set of five penalty kicks the teams were tied 4-4, with Sukhwinder Singh shooting past the left post to dash the Chandigarh hopes. The Kathmandu side won 2-1 in the `sudden-death' session.

By winning the under-17 Subroto Cup title, the Nepal school became the first foreign team to claim the prestigious inter-school tournament that was launched in 1960. Special Sports School, Tashkent, Uzbekistan and Ort Netanya, Israel, had finished runners-up in 1993 and 1996 respectively.

Overly cautious

Thursday's final lacked the kind of quality that was witnessed in the sub-junior final on the previous day. The teams mainly relied on midfield play with their overcautious approach.

After 20 minutes of unproductive exchanges, the Chandigarh school got a break when Gagandeep made a good move from the left flank before he was brought down in the box. Midfielder Ravinder Singh made no mistake in converting the resultant spot kick.

Soon after this, Chandigarh strikers Bikramjeet Singh and Manoj Kumar set up another chance but failed to beat the Nepalese goalkeeper, Rupak Shrestha. The Nepalese boys looked a rejuvenated lot after the break.

Ranjit Shrestha created an opening for Anil Lama in the 38th minute but the latter failed to head home. Lama, however, made up for that lapse two minutes later when he scored from a melee inside the box.

The equaliser had an immediate effect on the Nepalese boys, who went into overdrive. Lama and colleagues received a standing ovation from the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal, S. P. Tyagi, who later gave away the prizes.

Dull play in extra time

In the last minute of the regulation time, Ranjit Shrestha broke through the Chandigarh defence but Chetan Gimiri's header missed the post. The extra-time was a dull affair as both the teams were content to wait for the tie-breaker.

In the tie-breaker, the Chandigarh school went 3-2 up when Bikram Lama's shot was nicely saved by goalkeeper Prabhjot Singh. For the Chandigarh school, Ravinder Singh, Randeep Singh, Sukhdeep Singh and Rakesh Kumar scored while Sukhwinder missed. For Nobel Academy, Pukar Gatraj, Anil Ojha, Gimiri and Prabin Karki were the scorers. Bharat Khawas (Nepal) and Jaspal Singh (Chandigarh) converted the first spot kicks on either side in the `sudden-death' tiebreak while Robin Singh's miss was the signal for the Nepalese boys to celebrate.

The awards: Fairplay trophy: Maharana Pratap Sports School, Dehra Dun (under-17), Government Middle School, Car Nicobar. Best player: Gagandeep (Chandigarh, under-17), Arjun Tudu (Shillong, under-14).

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