Sporting Club rides its luck

By S.R. Suryanarayan

CHENNAI, AUG. 16. Opportunity, it is said, knocks but once. In the case of Indian Bank, Chennai it knocked in generous proportions but to no avail. In the end when the newcomer to the big stage, Sporting Club de Goa got the golden goal through Peter Pereira, the gloom was only to be expected.

The Goan team thus moved, with the 1-0 win, into the pre- quarterfinals of the Federation Cup tournament on Thursday and gets ready to face East Bengal next. Muggy weather is part of the times in the city, but poor public patronage when a local team, the State champion club in fact being in the fray, was unexpected. As though brooding over the settings seemed Indian Bank's display which was not bad in terms of working out moves but unbelievable in the final act with chances missed galore.

Sabir Pasha can always be a delight when he gets the ball and the modest gathering raised a chorus when such a scene developed, but even he could not believe how his tries could miss the rectangle in the fashion it did: A 14th minute header going over the bar, a 22nd open goal shot getting saved at the goalline and another similar hurdle came six minutes from half-time. Then on another occasion he had the mortification of blasting a blinder right at goalkeeper Felix D'Souza's legs.

Could ill-luck dog a player this far seemed everybody's query. The ace striker should have been sitting pretty with a hat-trick and ensured his team's progress in style, instead he was left contributing to his team's woes.

As the Goan team Coach Peter Vales put it, ``our win can only be considered a miracle. The Bank had played so well.'' But then he also said that his team comprised enterprising youngsters, most of them being members of the Goan under-21 team which had finished runner-up recently in the National championship. While he had faith in his boys, Vales knew experience was Indian Bank's advantage. And from the exchanges right through till the last quarter of the match his assessment was right. The Bank attack came from all sides. The lanky Sudanese, Elwaseg Badr, before he lost sanity and committed two bookable fouls and left with a red card punishment, appeared set to keep the Bank hopes high with his deceptive runs. Goalkeeper Felix had a tough time nipping the danger from this African talent, twice losing balance and opening his goal for exploitation, the occasions which Pasha were to miss.

Speed is Indian Bank's forte in addition to the calm and collected distribution by Hamilton Bobby, who once again took the mantle of midfield general. The tantalising through balls were there for the terrier-like runs by Pasha. But that was it, each danger was either thwarted or the Goan citadel had a charmed life as the ball kept whistling past, refusing to shoot in, or so it seemed. Just about the golden chance that the Bank lost in the first session was when the team's other foreign recruit Daniel Okoro from Nigeria floated a cross from the far side. Badr as is his wont rushed to trigger a goal-area confusion. Felix went out of his charge and Pasha, taming the ball, unleashed a right footer. But skipper Nicholas Silveira had only to stand where he was at the goalmouth as the ball hit his thigh and bounced off.

The entry of Jerose Oliveira seemed to galvanise the Sporting attack. From the way he made deep inroads, Jerose seemed Vales' trump card. Sure enough he was able to throw a scare in the Bank defence, which in any case was the team's weak link, notwithstanding David Gerald's game efforts to steady things there. In addition the Bank's goalkeeper Netto too was giving the jitters to his teammates with his preconceived charges. More than once he was an embarrassment to the defence.

But still he showed he could be alert too with the way he baulked Jerose's 25-yarder, a minute before the calamity fell. It was just the second minute of extra time and Jerose's shot had sent the ball to the far side. Sandeep Colaco centred the ball and in keeping with Netto's habit, he rushed out, failed to grasp the ball in the presence of both Jerose and Peter Pereira. Worse, Netto was off balance, or was he pushed down as the Indian Bank officials were to perceive. At least Referee Balu Sundaraj did not see anything amiss as Peter pounced on the loose ball and sent it into the roof of the net to leave his teammates delirious. Surely it was like an impossible mission getting accomplished.

Friday's matches: Air India vs Mohd. Sporting (4-15 p.m.); SBT vs ICF (6-30 p.m.).

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