The Hindu : BSF gets the better of ASEB

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 01, 2003

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Sport - Football

BSF gets the better of ASEB

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM March 31. It was a low-key affair almost all the way before Border Security Force (BSF), Jalandhar downed Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB), 2-0, in the second phase of the 2nd division National Football League at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium here on Monday.

There was hardly anything in the match but for the two first-half goals and some late action initiated by the Assam side when BSF chose to remain passive in the attack, happy enough to defend its citadel.

This lazy approach by the day's winner was indeed a surprise given the fact that its earlier drawn match against Air India should have pushed it to go for a big win today, particularly when the goal-average could prove so crucial in the end.

The Para-military outfit did start off in a hurry, going 1-0 up in the second minute itself. But then, it simply lost its way, lacking an able midfield general to provide added trust to the BSF attack, which in the opening session was handled well by Gurjit Atwal in the right. It was his fine run down the right and a perfect cross that had enabled D.S. Negi to put BSF ahead.

In possession, Negi had absolutely little work to do before planting the ball into the rival net with a tap between the gap in the Assam defence. It took a long 28 minutes for BSF to find the target a second time and here again it was Atwal who did the spadework behind the move that saw Santosh Kujur conquer Sankar Barman with a rousing shot from close.

ASEB had just one opening in the first-half and this came about when Utpal Basumataray ran down the left and provided a neat centre, which however was met only with a weak header from Manoj Bora. The initial half-hour of the final session saw little of action at either goalmouth as BSF went into the shell and ASEB never bothered to press its case seriously.

However, the induction of Lowrence Rongpi in place of Manoj Bora midway through saw a slight change in the pattern of play as the substitute provided ample support to Utpal Basumataray and Kamal Chetri to bring about a series of moves at the rival goalmouth. For once, the ASEB attack looked sharp when Sanjeeva Rongpi came up with a cross to Kamal Chetri and then darted into the rival goalmouth all by himself.

Utpal, thereafter, came up with another sizzling move as he dashed in through the right and put Kamal Chetri through with possession. Chetri, however, was unable to seize this opportunity and could only thump the ball over the bar. With three straight defeats, the campaign of ASEB is good as over while BSF with seven points remains a serious contender for one of the two spots available from here to qualify into the final round of the tournament.

It had a realistic chance to improve upon its goal-average today, but sadly BSF hardly made any effort to do so other than make sure of a win.

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