The Hindu : Sport / Football : Mahindra United wins

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Sunday, Sep 09, 2007
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Sport - Football

Mahindra United wins

Vijay Lokapally

Match decided in tie-breaker

LUDHIANA: Mahindra United struggled past a resilient Sporting Clube de Goa 6-5 via the tie-breaker in a scrappy quarterfinal of the 29th Hero Cycles Federation Cup at the floodlit Guru Nanak Dev Stadium here on Saturday.

The match spilled into tie-breaker after a dull extra time. Mahindra wasted a 28th minute lead by conceding the equaliser in the 76th minute. Ironically, the man who helped Sporting draw level in regulation time through a spot kick, Bibiano Fernandes, missed in the tie-breaker, substitute goalkeeper Subhashish Roy blocking to his right.

In the tie-breaker, Mahindra scored through N.P. Pradeep, Stevan Dias, Djiaja Pierre, Manjit Singh and Surojit Bose. For Sporting, Bisheshwar Singh, Nicholas Muyoti, Rajesh Meetei and Olushok Ogundare were successful.

Pradeep and Harpreet Singh left little gaps and the hard working Sunil Kumar enhanced Mahindra’s strength in the defence, giving Ajayan Nair, Susanth Mathew and Djiaja Pierre the freedom to explore. Giving Mahindra fillip on the right was Stevan Dias, who fashioned the goal to put Mahindra in the lead.

Clever move

Dias set off on the right with Minga Edson Dico tearing down the middle. In a clever move, Dias, instead of feeding Dico, chipped the ball to the onrushing Ajayan.

On the run, Ajayan trapped the ball and in a flash left-footed it clinically into the far corner. His finish was exceptional and Ajayan stood out for his commitment to keep the momentum going even as the pair of Mohammad Rafi and Dico struggled to gain control.

Sporting Clube de Goa had little to offer on Saturday night. Godwin Franco paved the way for Micky Fernandes in the midfield but the team lacked teeth when attacking. The disappointing form of strikers Olushola Ogundare and Boniface Ambani added to the team’s woes.

Equaliser

The equaliser, against the run of play, came in the 76th minute from a penalty awarded by referee Minangsu Bhattacharya. A desperate Debnath challenged Ogundare. The referee blew for penalty as Ogundare hit the turf. Mahindra protested vainly and Bibiano Fernandes levelled the scores. In the end, Fernandes, the redeemer, was a crestfallen loser.

The result: Mahindra United 6 (Ajayan Nair, 28th. (N. P. Pradeep, Stevan Dias, Djiaja Pierre, Manjit Singh and Surojit Bose in tie-break) bt Sporting Clube de Goa 5 (Bibiano Fernandes, 76th pen. (Bisheshwar Singh, Nicholas Muyoti, Raje sh Meetei and Olushok Ogundare in tie-break).