HAL swamps Indian Bank

By Our Sports Reporter

MALDA, APRIL 18. South Zone runner-up Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bangalore took topper Indian Bank, Chennai to task with a 4-0 verdict in the opening encounter of the II division National Football League final phase here at the Malda DSA Stadium here on Wednesday.

HAL avenged its 1-3 defeat in the zonal league stage and collected three full three points to place itself in a strong position in the four-team final phase league. The top two teams will go into the National Football League proper.

For the bankmen, the winner of the group I inter-zone league phase at Bhopal, it was a big dent in its aspiration of regaining the NFL seat it lost couple of seasons back.

HAL, runner-up to Dempo SC, Goa in the group II second phase (inter-zone) group II at Bhopal, reaped all the advantage of a youthful side initiating pacy conter-offensives right from the beginning.

Though Indian Bank, with a blend of youth and experience, had a greater share of the midfield action, it hardly helped in opening up the opposition defence that stood firm with first-time clearences. On the other hand, HAL worked big chasms in the opposition bulwark with faster replies. It was the slothness in falling back that seemed to be the undoing of Indian Bank as two quick goals in the opening session changed the complexion of the match.

For HAL the 13th minute seemed to contain all the luck as Xavier sent the ball into the goal from a minus by Vinod Kumar. The goal exposed the chinks in Indian Bank defence. One could see the Indian Bank defenders looking at each other with no clue as to who would charge whenever an opposition player sneaked into the penalty area. Moreover, the midfield too appeared to be under a spell of inertia as there were hardly any flank attack giving the opposition all the room to operate on the wings.

In the 34th minute HAL right-half Rajendra Prasad released striker Sunil with a measured cross. He connected the ball well with a diving header giving no chance to the Indian Bank custodian, Sebastian Netto.

The bankmen were left to sigh on missed opportunities. The HAL defence never gave the impression of being invincible. And this was proved right on a few occasions by the bankmen who found the corridoor into the opposition penalty area. The goal, however, remained elusive owing to a wayward finishing.

With the time in arrears, the bankmen applied a greater thrust just to see the opposition reaping the benefit. In an all-out effort in the final 10 minutes, the bankmen abandoned their respective posts herding into the opponent box but it was the Bangalore team that found the goal.

Frustration had its toll on Indian Bank custodian Netto, who handled the ball outside the box just to award HAL a freekick. Stopper-back Satish utlised the opportunity to send his right- footer past Netto to take the Bangalore team 3-0 up in the 88th miunte. Sunil scored his second goal of the match in the 89th minute finishing a cross from Dayananda. It thus completed the 4- 0 rout for HAL.

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