The Hindu : Sport / Football : Mahindra United manages a win

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Friday, Oct 21, 2005

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Sport - Football

Mahindra United manages a win

S.R. Suryanarayan

Churchill Brothers downs Tollygunge Agragami with a flurry of goals

MARGAO: An array of high quality players cannot promise a rousing show. The highly-rated Mahindra United, Mumbai proved that with its disappointing 1-0 win over JCT, Phagwara to earn a quarterfinal berth on Thursday in the Alchemist-27th Federation Cup football tournament at the floodlit Nehru stadium, Fatorda.

With a talent like the Brazilian Jose Ramirez Barreto, acknowledged as one of the best foreign players to come to India, in its ranks, not to mention some of the best known names in Indian football, Mahindras hardly looked dominating. Perhaps the team is still settling down and it was just as well that the side had in defender N.S. Manju to save the blushes with a stunning header in the 22nd minute. A minute earlier goalkeeper Kalyan Choubey had tipped over a rasping drive by Subhas Chakraborty only to concede the flag kick that proved fatal for JCT.

Steven Dias had taken the kick from near corner and as the ball zoomed in, Manju, unmarked, rose to thud in the goal, a gem of an effort, that happened to be the only bright spot in a forgettable match. Until that moment and for most part, even if Mahindras grabbed territorial advantage it could hardly get a view of the rival goal, so tight was the JCT defenders' marking. Mention has to be made of the tall Jaspal Singh ever ready to take on the rival. Barreto realised it, once even getting a knock on his face while trying to squeeze past him.

Barreto's presence

It must be said Barreto was not properly utilised. The one occasion he came into focus, he `scored' only to find the off-side flag up. May be if Yusuf Yakubu, the Ghanaian, had been present the duo could have told a different story. But the star player was kept out of Mahindras team because of his transfer problem with Churchill Brothers.

The Punjab side, coached by Sukhvinder Singh, the man who lost his `National coach' status recently, appeared to getting to its forceful self in the second session. A few close skirmishes at the Mahindras were good for appetisers but the true course did not come. Rather it was an effort that had come too late in the day.

Fast paced match

A flurry of goals jacked up interest in the second match which saw Churchill Brothers Goa showing Tollygunge Agragami the exit by a 4-2 margin. The teams were level 1-1 at the half-way stage with Fredy Mascarenhas finding the net first for Churchill in the fifth minute and the Kolkata side equalising in injury time through Ayan Chowdhury.

The fast paced match brought to fore the urge of both these NFL relegated teams to grab the initiative. With a sprinkling of sturdy African recruits, Churchill could force its way often. But it was Tollygunge which nearly went ahead early in the second session through Prasanta but for a goalline save by Villroy D'Cruz. In the 67th minute Fredy scored again and three more followed in the space of seven minutes. Tony made it 3-1 (68th) before Surajit Chakraborty reduced it to 2-3 (73rd). At the other end, Amjad Hussain upped it to 4-2 (74th) for Churchill.

Man of the match: Manju (Mahindra United) first match; Fredy Mascarenhas (Churchill) second match.

On Friday: Sporting Clube de Goa vs. SBT (4.30 p.m.); Mohammedan Sporting vs. Fransa (7 p.m.).

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