Sereiki nets match-winner

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 28. State Bank of Travancore, fighting to survive in the National Football League, received yet another setback as it was defeated by Tollygunge Agragami by a solitary goal at the Chandrasekharan Nair stadium here on Wednesday night.

It was not SBT's day as nothing went right for the side today as it played well below par and allowed its rival to get away with full points.

Here was, of course, the home team's best chance to avert the looming relegation, but instead of making up for the lost opportunities earlier in this league, SBT chose once again to court disaster with a lacklustre display. In fact, the side should be ruing by now the many goal-scoring opportunities which came its way as it showed signs of revival after Abdul Lathief Sereiki, the gangling Nigerian, provided the most definite twist to this evening's encounter.

But here again, SBT playing without National camper Abdul Hakkim, lacked its usual flourish leaving many to openly wonder on whether it was same team that had taken the mighty Mohun Bagan in its stride a couple of weeks ago. True, the Tollygunge defence hardly gave them very little space to manoeuvre, but there could be no excuses to the sitters missed by substitute Abdul Noushad and Shabir Ali with their poor marksmanship.

Tollygunge, expectedly, was slow to start as it showed little interest in pursuing its fortunes upfront. The team seemed very much content on defending its citadel for most of the time leaving out only Sereiki and Sasthi Duley to surprise the rival defence with quick counter-attacks. However, with absolutely no help coming from either the midfield or the flanks, the duo too could hardly challenge the SBT defence as they sought to probe their way into the rival goalmouth.

But the Kolkata side as it turned out was only to turn lucky at exactly the stroke of the first half-hour when an initial foray by Sereiki and Bhabani Mohanty through the right was foiled by Vinu Jose. However, Vinu's poor clearance was met by Debasish Pal Choudhary in the middle and as his header came in, Jiju Jose was caught by the awkard bounce of the ball leaving Sereiki free to find the target, left vacant by an advancing Rajeev Kumar.

SBT was quick to substitute off-colour C.V.Sunny with Abdul Noushad, but the substitute himself was to cut a sorry figure as he muffed an easy opportunity to equalise after being put through by Ignatius from the left. Asif Saheer, SBT's livewire in the front, who had earlier driven straight to Hemanta Dora twice, then came up with a sizzling cross from the left only to see his effort being cleared by Rejal Mustafa at the goal- line.

The home team once again dictated the course of play in the second session and as it pressed hard only to gain a flurry of flag-kicks which proved to be of no avail. Equally disturbing was the miss of Shabir Ali to paste the ball into the rival net after he had found a gap in the Tollygunge defence when put through with possession from the middle.

In between, Sereiki once again came close to surprise SBT and goalkeeper Rajeev Kumar with a splendid shot from 35 yards away, but the Nigerian's shot went out of play after hitting the inner edge of the cross-piece. Tollygunge, as the home team pressed hard to equalise, also went into attack and this in turn was to signal the end of the SBT party straightaway.

The standings (read under as played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against and points): East Bengal: 16-10-5-1-21-6-35; Mohun Bagan: 16-9-4-3-29-14-31; FC Kochin: 16- 8-5-3-22-19-29; Churchill Brothers: 16-7-4-5-21-16-25; Salgaocar SC: 15-7-2-6-17- 14-23; Vasco SC: 15-5-8-2-9-10-23; Tollygunge Agragami: 16-3-8-5- 8-12-17; Mahindra United: 16-4-5-7-12-17-17; ITI: 16-3-6-7-9-12- 15; Air India: 16-3-5-8-18-23-14; SBT: 16-2-6- 8-16-30-12; JCT: 16-1-8-7-10-19-11.

Note: The Round XVI match between Salgaocar SC and Vasco SC will be played only on April 11.

Tollygunge goalkeeper Hemanta Dora collects the ball before SBT's Ashif Saheer (No. 19) can do any damage even as Debasish Pal Choudhary (extreme right) goes sprawling on the turf in an effort to thwart Ashif.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : East Bengal holds JCT
Next     : Agassi's advice works wonders for Roddick