SUPER DIVISION HOCKEY

RCF, MbPT split points

Mumbai: Creating an advantageous position from a seemingly hopeless situation is a characteristic possessed by good teams. RCF brought this to the fore in their 2-2 draw against MbPt during their Super division tie of the Mumbai Hockey League at the
Mahindra BHA stadium on Monday.

It wasn’t easy going for RCF in the first session as they found it tedious to match the agility of their opponents. MbPT, who were attacking from the left, also enjoyed the freedom to penetrate from the centre taking advantage of RCF’s under-functioniong midfield.

In the 20th minute, MbPT’s left-outer Mohd Nadeem, who was the most hardworking on the field, sent in a cross to Mumtaz Ahmad. The ball was relayed to an unmarked Mohd Mirza, who was placed in the circle. An off-balance Mirza had to measure his shot well before crashing the ball into the boards past three defenders.

After the changeover, RCF came into their own, especially their magical Manipuri duo — Victo Singh and Obum M. After being stifled and staying in oblivion in the first half, the left-outer and the centre forward came out of their shells to turn the fortunes of their team. They combined well upfront and Obum M started the damage in the 48th minute when he struck from the left.

Seventeen-year-old Obum did a lot of feeding to his Manipuri counterpart who was slow to react and missed plenty of goal-scoring chances.

“I watched Obum at the Inter-Academy tournament and wanted him in my team. We now have him on a one year contract,” said Nandu Rajgopal, assistant coach, RCF.

And this duo don’t only combine on the turf but off it too. Obum, who only understands and converses in Manipuri, is assisted by Victo when he has to converse with the coach at training or otherwise. But, so long as Obum understands the universal language of hockey , no one’s complaining.