Sep 15, 2009
Dempo dumps AI
NEW DELHI: Dempo Sports Club began the Durand Cup in style. The 4-1 victory against Air India in Group III of the tournament was just the start the well-equipped team would have planned. It was Air India’s first defeat in two matches.
In the other match, Lajong FC, Shillong and defending champion Mahindra United split points from a goalless draw in Group IV.
Dempo, winner in 2006, was clearly the better side in a match that lacked intensity befitting the occasion. A 29th-minute goal, a header by Peter Carvalho off a corner, was the only noteworthy piece of action in the first session.
In the second, Ranty Martins made the most of a goalmouth scramble and slotted in an opportunist goal in the 60th and the third came from a penalty conversion by Sunil Chetri eight minutes later.
Roberto Mendis Silva completed the tally by curling in a free kick in the 89th minute. Air India managed one through N.D. Opara. moments after Silva’s strike.
Dempo will play Army XI in the group decider on September 17.
Boithang Hoakip had every reason to be dejected because he did everything right except score for Lajong FC. Mahindra’s crafty right midfielder Steven Dias was also disappointed too as his planned openings could not alter the course of the contest.
Hoakip hustled Mahindra right through but the Player of the Match was Daniel Bademi. The lanky player controlled the midfield tirelessly and his hard work kept Lajong optimistic against the much-fancied opposition. Bademi’s ball distribution was exemplary but then his team lacked a good finisher.
After being pounded by the Mahindra forwards in the initial stages, Lajong should have scored early on resumption. A curling right-footer from outside the box by Hoakip was goal-bound when Subhasish Roy Choudhy brought off a grand save by fisting the ball on his right.
Chance wasted
The Hoakip attempt was the motivation for his team. The energetic Niwan Gatphoh worked hard and once broke into the Mahindra box. He had caught the defence napping and was ideally placed to take a meaningful strike but all he managed was a hurried shot from the small box. Mahindra heaved a sigh of relief.
There was action in front of the Lajong goal as Mahindra reacted strongly. Barring a header from Mohammad Rafi, it had little to pat itself for. It was in contrast to the breezy beginning when Paresh Shivalkar hit the post and next failed to beat goalkeeper Gumpe Rime’s anticipation. There was a rasping 35-yarder by Dias but Sushil Singh failed to finish the rebound. The session ended with a free kick by Hoakip narrowly going past the post.
In the other match, Lajong FC, Shillong and defending champion Mahindra United split points from a goalless draw in Group IV.
Dempo, winner in 2006, was clearly the better side in a match that lacked intensity befitting the occasion. A 29th-minute goal, a header by Peter Carvalho off a corner, was the only noteworthy piece of action in the first session.
In the second, Ranty Martins made the most of a goalmouth scramble and slotted in an opportunist goal in the 60th and the third came from a penalty conversion by Sunil Chetri eight minutes later.
Roberto Mendis Silva completed the tally by curling in a free kick in the 89th minute. Air India managed one through N.D. Opara. moments after Silva’s strike.
Dempo will play Army XI in the group decider on September 17.
Boithang Hoakip had every reason to be dejected because he did everything right except score for Lajong FC. Mahindra’s crafty right midfielder Steven Dias was also disappointed too as his planned openings could not alter the course of the contest.
Hoakip hustled Mahindra right through but the Player of the Match was Daniel Bademi. The lanky player controlled the midfield tirelessly and his hard work kept Lajong optimistic against the much-fancied opposition. Bademi’s ball distribution was exemplary but then his team lacked a good finisher.
After being pounded by the Mahindra forwards in the initial stages, Lajong should have scored early on resumption. A curling right-footer from outside the box by Hoakip was goal-bound when Subhasish Roy Choudhy brought off a grand save by fisting the ball on his right.
Chance wasted
The Hoakip attempt was the motivation for his team. The energetic Niwan Gatphoh worked hard and once broke into the Mahindra box. He had caught the defence napping and was ideally placed to take a meaningful strike but all he managed was a hurried shot from the small box. Mahindra heaved a sigh of relief.
There was action in front of the Lajong goal as Mahindra reacted strongly. Barring a header from Mohammad Rafi, it had little to pat itself for. It was in contrast to the breezy beginning when Paresh Shivalkar hit the post and next failed to beat goalkeeper Gumpe Rime’s anticipation. There was a rasping 35-yarder by Dias but Sushil Singh failed to finish the rebound. The session ended with a free kick by Hoakip narrowly going past the post.
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