Date:17/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/17/stories/2008111760001600.htm

Sport - Football

Vigneswaran stars for Tiruchi

Sports Reporter

— Photo: R. Ragu

KEEN TUSSLE: Tiruchi’s Saravana Kumar (left) and Dindigul’s Muthupandi fight for possession.

Chennai: Tiruchi goalkeeper Vigneswaran saved three spot-kicks — from Suresh Kumar, Nagaraj and Prasath — to win his team the T.P. Ramaswamy Cup under-19 State-level football tournament 3-2 on penalties against Dindigul here on Sunday, after normal time had ended with both sides goalless.

It was a deserved win for Tiruchi, which was only a couple of calm finishes short of winning in normal time itself. The game was marked by both midfields struggling to find space and first touch on the short, rather uneven HVF-Ajeya Stadium pitch. Possession was thus sacrificed for a more direct, long ball approach.

In the second half, Saravana Kumar switched to a more central position, from which he spurned a number of chances. The first came after a thrilling bit of interplay. With the outside of his right foot, Saravana directed a first-time pass to Selva Kumar on the left wing. Receiving the return ball in the box, Saravana volleyed wide with his left foot.

The final miss of the game was another Saravana Kumar volley — right-footed, on the turn — which went over the crossbar after midfielder Sivashankar found him with a curling cross from the right.

The result: Tiruchi 3 (Saravana Kumar, Thameem Ansari, Selva Kumar) bt Dindigul 2 (Inba Karthikeyan, Senthilnathan) on penalties.