Nov 03: BSF wins hearts loses match, Jeepmen run out of fuel
It was the referee’s unfair play which saved the day and the match for Mumbai outfit Mahindra United, who won the match 1-0, otherwise they were no match against their mighty opponents Border Security Force from Jalandhar in the 120 th Osian’s Durand Cup pre-quarterfinal match played at the Ambedkar stadium here on Friday.
A solitary goal via penalty kick by Mahindra’s Yusuf Yakubu in the 87th minute drew the curtains for the paramilitary team in the match of the tournament thus far, after one was put away with a fine save by BSF keeper Deepak Kumar Junior ten minutes back.
Seven times Durand champion BSF was giving the impression of being a team of golden yesteryears, when they were playing with sheer power and giving hard times to Mahindra players on the field.
The match started on a rousing note turning into an electrifying encounter with both the teams were playing their heart out in the first half to surge ahead. BSF got into action first as Banti Singh’s shot came off the post in the 14th minute of the match. Captain Santosh Kujur missed from top of the box after receiving a fine cross from PH. Boy Singh from right flank two minutes before half-time.
Mahindra came close on many occasions but could not finish due to tight marking of BSF stoppers Deepak Kumar Sr., Mandeep Singh and PB Ekka.
After a barren first half, Mahindra roped in their star players Steven Dias and Ajayan Nair to save the grace of the team but the strategy of the Mahindra’s coach turned futile, as they could not provide the required direction to the team.
Jeepmen were running out of fuel while Securitymen were raiding the rival citadel with great firepower everytime they went for the attack. Derrick Pereira boys had no clue whatsoever of his team’s performance.
Yusuf Yakubu, Dohuhou Pieree and Mohammed Rafi did all the hard work for the Mahindra but couldn’t produce a goal. Mahindra penetrated the BSF defence on numerous times but messed it up in the end.
BSF Mandeep Singh disturbed Yusuf Yakubu from behind inside the box resulting in a penalty. Dohuhou Pieree took the penalty but BSF custodian Deepak Kumar Jr., who did a remarkable job under the bar, saved it by stretching on a dive along the goal line with his foot.
Ten minutes later referee again awarded the penalty to Mahindra with this time T Bhattacherjee handling the ball in the box. Yusuf Yakubu made no mistake in converting the golden opportunity into a goal guiding his team to score a none too impressive 1-0 win.
REFEREES ROLE UNDER SCANNER?
All the officiating national referees hail from the capital itself and yesterday they made mockery of all the rules by turning the match into Mahindra United’s favour. Referee’s role first came into play 22 minutes into the second half, when officiating referee Ashok Ghosh did not show Mahindra’s Harpreet Singh, a yellow card, after the latter deliberately handled the ball just outside the box in a goal bound movement.
In the 87th minute of the play referee deliberately awarded the penalty in Mahindra’s favour after T Bhattacherjee was found handling the ball in the box, however, it was quite evident that the ball just brushed past his T-shirt in a goal mouth melee and also it was not intentional.
Moreover the officiating referee denied BSF team a clear penalty after Mahindra’s Gautam Debnath’s hand openly touched the ball in the penalty area. In addition fourth referee only gave two minutes added time, however, there were five to six times stretcher was taken into the ground in the second half itself. This shows the standard of refereeing in our country.
On the whole, Referee wins the match for Mahindra as we normally say, “Rules are made to be broken.”
Mahindra will meet Sporting Clube de Goa in quarters
Earlier in the first match Sporting Clube de Goa avenged their 2005 Durand final defeat with a 2-1 victory over Army XI to earn a place in the last eight, where they will meet Mahindra United on November 4.
The first goal came in the 8th minute through Nigerian Olushola Ogundare. After conceding the first goal, the Armymen began to pose a threat with their counter attacks at regular intervals but could not succeed in their venture.
Bibiano Fernandes added one more in the 71st minute. Meanwhile, Army XI had some hard luck when they lost couple of scoring opportunities with the ball coming off the crossbar. MG Ramachandran scored the lone consolation goal for Army XI in the injury time, but it was too late by that time.
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