The Hindu : Sport : James Singh nets Tamil Nadu's match-winner

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Sunday, Feb 11, 2007
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James Singh nets Tamil Nadu's match-winner

K. Keerthivasan

— PHOTO: RITU RAJ KONWAR

STRIKING SUCCESS: Tamil Nadu striker James Singh (right) celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Kerala.

GUWAHATI: James Singh, a sturdy forward, brought cheers to Tamil Nadu with a wonderful goal that turned out to be the winner against Kerala in their opening match of the men's football competition of the National Games held at the North East Frontier Railway Stadium, Maligaon here on Saturday.

Taken in as a guest player last season by Indian Bank (Chennai), James (basically from Manipur) was the fulcrum of the Tamil Nadu forwardline revolved. He was quick and unrelenting, and above all jelled well with the team.

Thirty minutes into the second session and no result was at sight. It was then that Jotin Singh (also from Manipur) effortlessly rolled the ball from the right flank and his cross landed just parallel to the left post. James Singh moved his right foot at the nick of time to tap it home.

Kerala had as many chances as Tamil Nadu in the first half. Jackson Sebastian was the man in focus inside the box. But his shot selection was questionable and he kept missing the target by a distance, on more than one occasion. But once TN converted in the second half, Kerala's aggressive spirit dipped considerably.

Tamil Nadu will meet host Assam in its next match on Sunday, while Kerala will take on Maharashtra on Monday. Assam is not going to be a cakewalk as it had routed Maharashtra the other day. And Tamil Nadu coach Soundararajan is aware of it.

Easy for West Bengal

Earlier in the morning, West Bengal scripted a 3-0 win over debutant Haryana. Imagination and flair were evident in spite of the rough edges in Bengal's set-piece. The midfielders did thir job creditably.

Sankar Sil side-stepped a defender at the edge of the box and unfolded a curling right-footer from an acute angle that went past the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Navjot Singh. Bengal led 1-0 at half-time.

Rabrindranath Karmakar was the architect of the second goal. His fine dribbling and the resultant cross from the left saw Gouranga Dutta tapping the ball in. Soon, Amjad Ali Khan received a red card in the 73rd minute and Haryana's morale and performance went down. Gouranga Dutta scored once again with an opportunistic strike in the 77th minute.

Bengal takes on Meghalaya on Sunday, while Haryana meets Punjab on Monday.

The results:

Football (men): TN 1 (James Singh) bt Kerala 0; West Bengal 3 (Sankar Sil, Gouranga Datta 2) bt Haryana 0.

Women: West Bengal 2 (Silpi Deb, Adhuri Khatoon) bt Kerala 0; Goa 1 (Domiana Gomendes) bt Mizoram 0.

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