Wednesday, Nov 20, 2002
Wednesday, Nov 20, 2002 |
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Football
By Our Special Correspondent
Indian Bank's Imran Mohammed leaps over the ITI defenders to head home in the National Football League in Bangalore on Tuesday.
The Bankmen from Chennai clearly looked out of depth in the first half as an eighth-minute header by ITI's Najeeb weighed heavily on the defence. A pep talk by coach Sathyan during the break and a lively comeback in the second session saw Indian Bank reversing the trend for a 2-1 victory. The first hint that the ITI defence could be split open and tested came when Indian Bank's first flag-kick caused consternation in the ITI camp and clearly ruffled a usually secure Balaji under the bar. The irony for ITI was that the side's fate was sealed by two flag-kicks and on both occasions, Imran Mohammed's gnawing presence in the crowd did the trick. How useful is Hamilton Bobby's vast experience for Indian Bank? An eye infection nearly kept him out of today's game. Nearly. He came in as a substitute and chipped in his mite. It was he who floated those nagging flag-kicks across the goal mouth for Imran to do the rest. In the first quarter ITI looked better organised and more confident on the ball. Possession was clearly to ITI's advantage. The early goal was as much Najeeb's splendid opportunism as a momentary aberration in the Bank defence. Akshay Das' teasing lob travelled so far and across that the defence and Bank goalkeeper Felix Edward probably misread it. Najeeb, though, saw his chance and gave it a perfect nod. Not long after this, Bank's defence had to endure another rough ride. This time a Jitesh free-kick not far away from the box was menacingly close to being a goal until Felix tipped the ball over just in time. If Indian Bank was looking for a fresh breakaway from the tedium of letting ITI hold sway. It came in the form of a brave attempt by the usually reliable Sayed Sabir Pasha. With ITI goalkeeper Balaji out of position, Sabir Pasha's goal-bound header was headed back on the line by Sunil Kumar. But more was to come for the ITI defence in the second session. The second Sri Lankan recruit for Indian Bank, Kasun Jayasuriya is a game trier and it was he who triggered the action in front of the ITI goal off a lob that came from the corner. Twice in succession he shot at the goal. Twice the ball came back into play but that chain of rebounds later, Imran Mohammed rammed the ball home. A thrilling finale. The second Indian Bank goal came in much similar circumstances. The subtle difference this time was that Imran Mohammed had leapt well over the others to get his head first to the ball. The direction was so precise that Balaji had no earthly chance. The fast changing trends clearly played on the ITI psyche. The side stumbled upon a chance to square things up but Felix Edward's chivalry more than anything dashed ITI hopes. ITI's Dhanesh took a swipe at the goal which was thwarted by Felix who had to leave his post to do so. But by the time the advancing Najeeb adjusted his instep and angle for the chip in, Felix had dashed back to gather the ball. Much to the dismay of ITI. ITI's new coach, Shabbir Ali said the side made many mistakes in the second half after playing well enough in the first. "Our players did not mark their men properly in the second session,'' Shabbir said. He conceded the side had frittered away the home advantage and dropped three crucial points. Indian Bank coach Sathyan said he was happy that the side had crossed the first hurdle. "The boys played to my plans and the fitness counted a lot. We could go through the match without serious problems,'' said Sathyan. The former Indian captain made one strategic move when the chips were down. That was to pull a defender out and bring in veteran Hamilton Bobby, who arrived in the city only this morning. The ploy worked wonders.
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