The Hindu : Sport / Football : Army XI posts win

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Wednesday, Mar 07, 2007
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Army XI posts win

Principal Correspondent

KOCHI : Army XI, Delhi squeezed out a solitary goal win over Lajong Sports Club, Shillong in the ONGC 2nd division NFL match at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium on Tuesday.

Army XI, the 2005 Durand Cup champion, was lucky to come out unscathed as the Shillong side missed plenty of opportunities especially in the second half.

It was a cagey affair in the first 20 minutes with the ball being confined to the midfield and both sides looking inept to launch meaningful moves. But the army men thanks to enterprise shown by Ngernilal upfront began to pose a few problems to the Lajong defence.

In the 29th minute M.G. Ramachandran tested the Lajong goalkeeper Markush Basumata with a header off a centre from Ngernilal. But the ball was tipped out for a corner.

The pace of the contest increased as Lajong came out its defensive shell and counter attacked with assurance. However, the side lacked a capable finisher. Kryshan Lyngshing wasted its first real chance when he shot out from close with only the goalkeeper to beat. A fine move initiated by Romeo Sukhlein and Niwand Gatphoh opened the Army defence only for Niwand to blast out from close.

Sukhlein was in thick of action at the start of the second half, when his fine lob beat the goalkeeper, who had strayed out of his line, but the ball to hit the crosspiece and went out of play.

Army men went ahead in the 63rd minute through a fortuitous goal. A long clearance from the Army half saw the ball come to Ngernilal, who attempted a fancy overhead kick inside the penalty box and missed the ball altogether but luckily the loose ball landed at the boot of Thirunavakarasu who had enough time to attempt a right footed shot at the goal. The ball deflected off a Lajong's defender's body and entered the net after wrong footing the goalkeeper who had first made an initial dive towards his right.

The goal galvanised the Shillong side and it got together a series of fine moves that had the army side on its toes. The army goalkeeper Robikanta Singh palmed away a stiff shot from Romeo Sukhlein after the midfielder had made a darting run through the right flank. Gordonzo and T.L. Muana had opportunities to score in the later stages. But on both occasions the Shillong players were wayward with their attempts.

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