Date:14/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/14/stories/2008121455991800.htm

Sport - Football

New Delhi Heroes packs off Sporting Clube

Principal Correspondent

BARASAT: Debutant New Delhi Heroes sent the current I-League leader Sporting Clube de Goa packing with a 1-0 win in the second round of the group-C league in the 30th Federation Cup football tournament at the Vidyasagar Stadium here on Saturday.

The Goan side had lost 2-0 to JCT Mills (Phagwara) in the first round and the reverse against Heroes signalled the end of the road for the team.

In another match of the same group, East Bengal played some inspired football to beat JCT by a solitary goal.

Chetri nets winner

Sunil Chetri scored the winner in the 47th minute.

East Bengal, with six points from successive wins, is on top of the table. The home side requires just a draw in the last round against Sporting Clube to ensure a place in the semifinals. JCT and New Heroes, with three points, are in second place.

Sporting Clube paid the price for the profligacy of its forwards who missed at least four easy opportunities in the first session. In the 12th minute, Nigerian striker Nathaniel Amos managed only a feeble shot a few yards from the goal, making it easy for Heroes’ custodian Rajat Guha. Two minutes later, Freddy Mascarenhas came up with a wild shot from close.

In the 16th minute, Amos increased Sporting Clube’s frustration as he fumbled and missed a golden opportunity. Guha foiled Amos’s third attempt in the 28th minute.

Having weathered the Sporting Clube barrage, Heroes came out of its defensive shell at the half-hour mark. Romeo Sukhlain found the target for Heroes as he slammed home a measured back-pass from Brazilian colleague Itaue De Oliviera.

In the second half too, the Sporting Clube forwards continued to flounder, forcing their team to make an early exit from the tournament.