Railways holds Maharashtra, enters semifinals

By Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI, NOV. 12. Railways has been plotting its progress like moves on a chessboard. Aware of its limitations and taking care to assert its strengths, this compact side knocked down holder Maharashtra on Monday to confirm a semifinal berth in the 57th Santosh Trophy National football championships. A controlled performance leading to a 1-1 draw, enough to nudge the champion from its pedestal in Group C quarterfinal league.

Maharashtra, fielding five current internationals apart from a couple of ex-India players, faced a must-win situation. A third- minute goal by tireless midfielder S. Venkatesh was neutralised through a superb individual effort from bustling striker Manjinder Singh (1-1). Railways then slowed down the pace of the game to almost a trot, tapped the ball amongst themselves all over the field and launched occasional attacks through long passes.

Tactics which not only put Maharashtra's rhythm off track, the pressure of expectations affected even accomplished players like skipper Khalid Jamil. With time ticking away, skill became a casualty as players engaged in settling scores. The referee, Rizwan-ul Haq was the busiest person on the field, rushing all over quelling potentially explosive situations. Jamil picked up a yellow, forcing his substitution by coach Jamshed Nassiri while Khalid Siddique was lucky not to get a red card for repeated fouls.

Having achieved its primary objective of rattling its rival, Railways then took the battle to the rival camp, Surjeet Tigga's tireless tackling in the midfield proving very useful. Strikers Kasif Jamal, Asif Jamal, Manjinder, Masood Ansari and substitute Adil Ansari taunting the defence by courageously holding onto the ball for long periods in the Maharashtra half.

Maharashtra went into the lead when Venkatesh nodded down a Tomba Singh floater, beating the Railways off-side trap with fine understanding and anticipation. Manjinder's equaliser was equally spectacular, a strong run onto a through ball followed by an equally strong finish. Thereafter, it was Railways all the way, except a few anxious moments in the goalmouth when custodian Sangram Mukherjee looked suspect against crosses from both flanks.

Coach Nassiri, aware of his team's inability to seize the initiative, wrung in changes-Jules Alberto for Mohd Najib, Nitin Shetty for Jamil and Crispin Chetri for Tomba Singh, but the Railways defensive wall did not break down.

Towards the closing stages, the pressure on Maharashtra to somehow get the match-winner became so intense that all pretensions of skilful play were thrown to the winds, crude ball- snatching tactics took over, inviting hooting from the Mumbai crowd against the home team.

Goa beats Punjab

The ball skills of the Goan players, coupled with their body control, proved too much for Punjab.

The youthful Goan side knew how to make the ball do the running for them and showed ample skill in one-to-one situations to prove worthy qualifiers from Group D at the Cooperage.

Skipper Mahesh Gawli in the defence, Noel Wilson and Roque Barretto in the midfield and Abhay Kumar up front were more than a handful for the entire Punjab side. These four held the team together after Jose Colaso's 47th minute goal, scooping the ball in after the defence got into a tangle clearing a centre by substitute Jatin Bisht.

Gawli's confident tackles and sudden surges, the scheming abilities of tireless Barretto and classy Wilson, searing runs by Abhay in the forwardline inspired an equally committed display from their lesser talented teammates.

Punjab could do nothing right after a promising start, unable to stop the flow of Goan moves.

Towards the closing stages, desperation crept into its play in a no-holds barred quest for the equaliser which didn't happen.

The results: Group C: Railways 1 (Manjinder Singh) drew with Maharashtra 1 (S. Venkatesh); Group D: Goa 1 (Jose Colaso) bt Punjab 0.

Thursday's semifinals (after a two-day break): Kerala vs. Tamil Nadu; Goa vs. Railways.

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