The Hindu : Sport : Viva Kerala grounds Air-India

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Friday, Sep 07, 2007
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Sport

Viva Kerala grounds Air-India

Vijay Lokapally

Barreto’s header helps Bagan scrape past ONGC

LUDHIANA: In an upset, Viva Kerala eliminated Air-India 2-1 to make it to the quarterfinals of the 29th Hero Cycles Federation Cup at the Guru Nanak Dev ground here on Thursday.

A priceless header in the 107th minute by Jose Barreto carried Mohun Bagan past a fighting Oil and Natural Gas Commission in the second match of the day. Dragged into extra time by an 83rd minute equaliser by Jatin Singh Bisht, the much-decorated club from Kolkata just about managed to stay in the tournament with a 2-1 verdict. Earlier Gulidum Rongmoi’s self goal put Bagan in the lead.

Still in its formative years, Viva Kerala recovered from a 15th minute deficit to score once in each half against an opposition that was a clear favourite.

There was little to distinguish between Air-India and Viva Kerala. The teams were guarded and the game suffered in terms of competition.

Air-India was expected to dictate but Viva Kerala had read the opposition well, marked its strikers and did well to slow down the pace. The strategy unsettled the Air-India side and allowed Viva Kerala to gradually gain its composure after being rattled by an early setback.

It was a different match for many reasons. Neither team had a foreigner, nor a big star. The excitement, however, came from the two goalkeepers, each committing a blunder in the first half.

Setting the tempo

Air-India set the tempo with a vigorous charge through the flanks. The first salvo came from Narendra Meetei, who shot firmly but wide.

The gaps were plugged by Viva Kerala soon but an unmarked Hringsolal Thomte found one to put Air-India ahead in the 15th minute with a splendid piece of opportunism.

Midfield skirmish

Thomte won possession in midfield skirmish and set the ball rolling for Sanju Pradhan to pursue. Pradhan trapped, turned, and confronted with an acute angle, took a hopeful drive.

To his own surprise, Pradhan saw the ball slip through the legs of goalkeeper T.G. Purshothanam.

The goalkeeper’s act was appalling because it pushed the side into a defensive mode, but only for a while. Viva, riding on the thrust from its defence, hit back, courtesy Air-India goalkeeper Raju Ekka.

A long ranger from Bimal Barua presented Ekka with a routine collection but he fumbled and the ball slipped out of his grasp. An agile Satish Kumar stabbed the ball in quickly to level the scores four minutes from the half time.

Air-India coach Bimal Ghosh was livid. You can’t concede such goals at any level and expect to come back. We missed too many chances. We have never done well in the Federation Cup and I don’t know why.” The second half was an even contest but Viva grabbed its chance and brought Air-India down through a spectacular strike by James Singh.

A counter-attack left Air-India in a state of panic. Uttam Singh committed foul, earned a yellow and unwittingly conceded a goal. James’ free-kick floated over the wall and swung past Ekka into the right corner. Air-India strove but experienced defender Irungabam Singh held firm.

Viva coach A.M. Sreedharan praised Irungabam. “We rely a lot on him. It is a good victory but we have a long way to go. We beat a team that was better than us,” he said.

Friday’s fixtures: Dempo v Chirag United (4 p.m.), Salgaocar v Churchill (7 p.m.).