Sport - Football   

Yakubu's goal grounds HAL

Margao Dec. 24. Striker Yusif Yakubu's first half strike guided Churchill Brothers to its third successive win as it managed to ward off a stiff challenge in the second half to down HAL 1-0 in the eighth round of the National Football League at the Nehru Stadium here on Tuesday.

Kasif Ajmal linked up well along with Yakubu and with good support from the rear; it started off well and surged ahead in the 15th minute through set piece move.

A combined move between Yakubu and Kasif Jamal from the centre saw the latter sending a through pass for Yakubu who raced into the rival box and sent a fine placement to the far corner of the net to keeper Mark Mascarenhas' left. Yakubu, who was later declared the `man of the match', took his tally to five goals.

HAL, which took time to settle down, had its say in the latter part of the first half creating two scoring chances and had the best chance to find the equaliser in the dying minutes of the first half but Satish Kumar's weak shot from inside the box was saved by keeper Ansah off a pass from Sunil.

The change of ends saw HAL taking full control of the proceeding and had itself to blame for the loss as it failed to capitalise the chances that came its way.

HAL, which had Churchill breathing down its neck, could have found the equaliser in the 50th minute, but defender Obinna's header was saved on the goal line by Aquel Ansari off a flag kick taken by Wadoo.

HAL brought in Jadish Kumar and Rajendra Prasad in place of Satish Kumar and S. Sunil kept on pressing in search of the equaliser with striker Ishfaq Ahamad along with Onu troubling the rival defence. It came close to scoring twice in the dying minutes but keeper Ansah stood firm, blocking a fierce shot from Kumar and the latter thwarting Prasad from scoring.

With time ticking, HAL mounted pressure and had the best chance towards the end but Dayand wasted the chance as he failed to beat the onrushing keeper Ansah who blocked his shot.

With this win, Churchill take its tally to 13 points from eight matches, the same as Salgaocar which is fourth behind East Bengal (18 pts), Dempo (16 pts) and Vasco (15pts).

HAL, which had suffered its third successive defeat, remain on four points from seven matches. Referee Saji Kurian of Kerala showed the yellow card to HAL's Satish Kumar.

PTI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

Billiards & Snooker

• Vidya has the last laugh
• Brijesh shocks Aditya
  
  Chess
  
• Chaos prevails at National children's tourney
  
  Cricket
  
• Srinath, Kumble determined to bring back World Cup
• ICC-BCCI heading for another showdown
  
  Football
  
• Bengal, Manipur enter semifinals
• Yakubu's goal grounds HAL
  
  Hockey
  
• India should play more matches in Europe
  
  Sports : General
  
• OCA gets advisory from IOC on Sunita doping case
  
  Tennis
  
• Nitin, Vinod, Ajay and Harsh in last four
• Leander confirms Tata Open participation
  
  Table Tennis
  
• Good day for N.E. States
  
  

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu