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Chennai Customs in last four

Chennai Aug. 8. In a volatile clash under lights, between two city outfits, Chennai Customs prevailed over Reserve Bank of India 4-2 to enter the semifinals of the Champions Club football tournament at the Nehru Stadium here on Thursday.

In another duel, at the Nehru Park, ICF quelled a spirited challenge from St. Joseph's, Tiruchi 2-1 to make the last four grade.

The otherwise lively contest at the Nehru Stadium was marred by crowd disturbance, following referee T. Pradeep Kumar's awarding of a penalty to Chennai Customs in the injury time of the first half.

RBI had just reduced the margin to make it 1-2 in the 44th minute, when Ananda Vasan appeared to have brought down Prem inside the box with a tackle from behind. Though it seemed an offence technically, the fact that Prem was not actually in a position to score angered a section of the crowd that invaded the field. The RBI officials too could not hold back their emotions.

Play was held up for 15 minutes before sanity at last prevailed. Soon, Chendur converted the award to put Customs up 3-1. Earlier, Amamchuknu Innocent struck twice in the fourth and 25th minutes to put Customs 2-0 ahead, first driving home after Chendur had sent in a fine centre from the right, and then, finding the mark from a close range following a goal-mouth melee.

Loganathan provided some hope for RBI when he smartly slotted in the rebound after Suresh in the Customs goal had failed to gather the ball cleanly.

The presence of policemen in the second half silenced the unruly section of the crowd that threatened to take matters into its own hands at one stage. Customs went up midway through the half when Onyaka Okaffar made no mistake with a penalty after Innocent was brought down by RBI custodian Palmson. Two minutes from the end, there was a consolation second goal for RBI, Sivakumar making full use of a penalty.

In the ICF-St. Joseph's clash, Jayakumar (2nd & 65th minutes) struck for the winner, while Sundaravanakannan (49th min.) scored for the Tiruchi outfit. St. Joseph's, that gave the fancied ICF a run for its money, made a distinct impression with its fast paced game, and it could well have been a different story had it converted the chances.

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