The Hindu : Sport / Football : Army Green posts win

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Monday, Nov 13, 2006
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Army Green posts win

Principal Correspondent

NEW DELHI: A late equaliser and the winning penalty from Aji helped Army Green shock fancied Churchill Brothers, Goa, 4-3 on penalties in the Group I qualifying round match in the 119th Durand Cup football tournament at the Air Force Ground here on Sunday.

The teams were 1-1 at the end of the regulation time and the armymen made most of the opportunity by causing the first major upset of the tournament. Army Green will take on Assam Rifles on Tuesday to win a berth in the pre-quarterfinal league.

Aji turned hero for the soldiers as he struck the equaliser four minutes from close before firing the winning spot kick. Dhrupesh Dessai had given the Goan side lead in the 68th minute, after a well-contested first half failed to cut any ice.

In the tie-breaker, apart from Aji, Ramesh Singh, Ashok Lepcha and Manju Nath found the back of the net for Army Green. Churchill goalkeeper, Arindam Bhattacharya, made one save when Naveen Kumar took the shot.

For Churchill Brothers, Villroy D'Cruz, Nigerian Odafe Onyeka Okolie and Raju scored, while Chandam Singh and another Nigerian Nicholas Moyuti had their shots blocked by Min Bahadur.

The result left Churchill in a state of shock as the Goan side had worked hard to get promotion into the top division of the National Football League (NFL), that is coming up early next year.

Assam Rifles wins

Earlier in the day, Assam Rifles, Shillong, edged ahead of Eleven Gorkha Rifles, Lucknow, 2-0, with both the goals coming late in the match.

The two teams played a very scratchy game throughout with defenders and forwards alike going for the aerial shots. There was little to no plan as the match meandered through before Assam Rifles drew the first blood through Ajit Singh in the 70th minute. Thoiba Singh rushed upfront and sent a cross to Abel Sema in the centred. Realising that the defenders had surrounded him, Sema released the ball for Ajit Singh to open the team's account.

Six minutes later, Abel Sema got his due when Akum Ao made the attack in tandem with Thoiba Singh.

The results:

Assam Rifles, Shillong, 2 (Ajit Singh, Abel Sema) bt XI Gorkha Rifles, Lucknow, 0; Army Green 1 (Aji) bt Churchill Brothers, Goa, 1 (Dhrupesh Dessai) on penalties 4-3.

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