Pasha helps Tamil Nadu hold Gujarat

By Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI, NOV. 2. Gujarat rode on the luck of the brave, leading 1- 0 till two minutes from close, before an injured Sabir Pasha's snatched the equaliser for Tamil Nadu at the University stadium. The final outcome - a 1-1 draw - forced the former to settle for a points split instead of what would have been an outrageous victory in Cluster VIII of the 57th Santosh Trophy National football championship on Friday.

Orissa was given a scare by a gallant Delhi before winning 2-1, the opening Cluster VII match played under floodlights at the Cooperage, followed by a 4-0 thrashing of Tripura by Punjab in Cluster IV. Two more withdrawals from the north-east, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram failing to make an appearance after confirming participation, has lent a bizarre twist to the tournament schedule. Cluster I (Services, Rajasthan) and Cluster III (Railways, Andhra Pradesh) has only two teams, forcing a two- match playoff to decide one qualifier from each.

Ranjit Sisodia's 67th minute goal was almost like a dagger in Tamil Nadu's heart, picking his spot with a well-timed long range shot taking when in stride.

``I had seen the goalkeeper come out and so took a try,'' said the 30-year-old striker.

Tamil Nadu goalkeeper Felix Edward, stranded on the penalty spot area, could only stumble back in a stupor as the controlled shot saw the ball nestling in the top left corner of the net. Sisodia had given no indication in the first half of being gifted with such vision and power, inducing the former India custodian to rule out such a threat, though the ball was in sight far out near the centre line. It is a mistake he may never repeat for the rest of this tournament, at least. Sisodia too may not find the mark next time, but his instinctive, outrageous act sure put some life into the tournament.

lThe results:

Cluster VIII: Gujarat 1 (Ranjit Sisodia) drew with TN (Sabir Pasha).

Cluster VII: Orissa 2 (Saroj Kantha Patnaik, Ranjit Kaudi) bt Delhi 1 (Ravinder Singh).

Cluster III: Andhra Pradesh w/o Mizoram.

Cluster VII: Chandigarh w/o Arunachal Pradesh.

Cluster IV: Punjab 4 (Jaswinder Singh 2, Sukhjit Singh, J.Ousep) bt Tripura 0.

Saturday's matches: Rajasthan vs Services (C-I), J & K vs Daman & Diu (C-VI), Assam vs MP (C-V), Himachal Pradesh vs Haryana (C- II).

Sabir Pasha of Tamil Nadu (No.12) evades a tackle from Shonu George of Gujarat in the Santosh Trophy National football Championship in Mumbai on Friday. - Photo: Vivek Bendre

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