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Football
Facile win for Mahindra United
By Our Sports Reporter
NEW DELHI, FEB. 9. Mahindra United notched up an easy 4-1 victory over qualifier Border Security Force (BSF) in a group `C' match of the 114th Durand Cup football tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Saturday.
Mahindra, which has proved to be one of the better sides in the current season, did not have to exert much on this day. Jules Alberto, Raman Vijayan and Bala Usman scored in the first half while substitute S. Venkatesh chipped in with a goal in the 83rd minute.
For BSF, which could make an impact only for a brief period after conceding the second goal, Santosh Khujur made it 1- 2 in the 30th minute. BSF, which had played a goalless draw against F. C. Kochin earlier, finished its league engagements with one point in the three-team group.
Unlike the other top clubs in the country, Mahindra is not entirely dependent on the foreign recruits to deliver the goods.
The two crafty Nigerians Usman and Austin Okolo have been performing well this season but Jules Alberto, midfielder Khalid Jamil and M. Suresh, too, add strength to the line-up.
The hard-working Alberto scored the first goal in the second minute when he capitalised on an opening created by Okolo. Though Alberto collided with goalkeeper Kameshwar Singh, he still managed to guide the ball in.
Even as BSF started showing some urgency in its retaliation, Mahindras kept up the pressure thanks to some fine distribution and control in the midfield through Jamil and Suresh.
A run on the left by Suresh and a passing bout between him and Okolo ended in the former testing the goalkeeper with a stiff right-footer. Kameshwar rose to the occasion to tip the ball over the bar. Five minutes later, however, the BSF goal fell, with Raman Vijayan finding the mark off an Okolo header.
BSF did well to recover by scoring in the next minute. Harvinder Singh's run from the right flank resulted in the goal when Santosh Khujur, standing close to the left pole, tapped the ball in.
Mahindra regained control when Okolo capitalised on a lapse in the defence by T. Bhattacharjee and Amarjeet Singh just before half-time. Venkatesh, who was introduced in place of Okolo in the 71st minute, completed the scoreline with a right-footer.
In group `D', Army XI beat the AIFF under-19 side 5-3. The Army XI, which had lost 1-2 to Churchill Brothers earlier, trailed 1-2 at the interval.
Army XI changed the course of the match by scoring four goals in a span of 11 minutes in the second half. The Army team's equaliser for 2-2 was an own goal by defender Prashant Jaggi whose weak clearance ended up in his own net in the 50th minute.
Sansil Koireng found the mark off a rebound while Saroj Gurung scored with his right-footer to make it 4-2 for Army. Lal Sangliana contributed the last goal, guiding in Raghu Kumar's pass. A. Thiruvakarasu had made it 1-1 for Army XI in the 41st minute. For the AIFF team, Rahim Nabi, J. Houzel and James Singh were the scorers.
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