The Hindu : Sport / Football : Lajong SC dumps Indian Bank

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 09, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport - Football

Lajong SC dumps Indian Bank

Principal Correspondent

KOCHI : Indian Bank, Chennai lost 0-2 to Lajong Sports Club, Shillong in the ONGC 2nd division NFL league match at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here on Thursday.

The margin of victory would have been more for the Shillong side but for some good work by the Indian Bank custodian Sebastian Netto.

The loss of Nigerian Mike Chinedu Obi due to injury early in the first half upset the combination of the Chennai side whose defence struggled to contain the nippy Lajong forwards. The Manipuri trio of Thoi Singh, Tiken Singh and Jotin Singh had an ordinary match while the midfielders barring James Singh looked pedestrian.

The Shillong side settled into a nice rhythm from the start moving up with short and sweet passes. T.L. Muana tested Netto with a couple of long rangers and he looked dangerous when given space and time inside the penalty box. Netto was in thick of action when he came out of his guard to pick the ball from the boots of Laldinliana Khangte in the 33rd minute.

Gordan Zoramchana scored Lajong's opening goal in the 40th minute. A one-two by Romeo Dukhlein and Niwan Gatphoh saw the latter enter the penalty area and shot had Netto diving full stretch. The rebound was coolly slotted in by Gordan.

Two minues into the break, the Shillong side increased its lead. T.L.Muana out sprinted his marker to meet a long ball from the middle and his left-footed volley caught Netto napping. Though James Singh tried to coerce his teammates to stage a fight back, the bankmen lacked ammunition with both strikers Thoi Singh and Tiken Singh failing to rise up to the occassion.

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

Sport