Mumbai, May 16:
Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (RCF), Mumbai powered by Shiva Kumar’s brace overcame hosts Bombay Gymkhana President’s XI 4-1 in a first round match of the DCB Presents Aga Khan tournament – 2011, at the Bombay Gymkhana ground, on Sunday.
The home team comprising of former Indian stars, like Viren Rasquinha, Darryl D’Souza, Edgar Mascarenhas Sr, Devinder Kumar and goalkeeper Edgar Mascarenhas Jr, put up quit a decent fight, but were unable to keep pace and match their rivals who were much younger and fitter.
The heroics of goalkeeper Mascarenhas under the Bombay Gym bar was instrumental in restricting RCF to just four goals. He was repeatedly forced to produce some timely saves to deny the rival attackers from finding the target. For his fine efforts he was rewarded with the man-of-the-match prize.
The senior pros from Bombay Gymkhana showed promise at the start as they stitched together some nice passes in their build up towards the rival goal. But they found it tough to break through the RCF defence and have a clear shot at goal.
RCF finally got the breakthrough in the 12th minute when Shiva Kumar with a darting run from the left cut into the striking circle and with a rasping angular hit beat Mascarenhas. He was again on target tapping home following a pass from Mahesh Bagade in the 30th minute.
Bombay Gym fighting on gamely pulled one back in the 46th minute when Devinder Kumar sounded the boards with a solid hit from the left.
Suhas Patil knocked the fight out of Bombay Gym scoring the third goal in the 58th minute before Mahesh Bagade added the fourth a minute before the final hooter.
In another match played under floodlights, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Chennai got the better of a spirited Maharashtra State Police (MSP) 3-2 via the tie-breaker after the teams were locked goalless at the end of the regulation time.
MSP goalkeeper Kishor Dwaigude came up with a series of fine saves to frustrate the Chennai players and prevent them from finding the net. He was later adjudged man-of-the-match.
In the tie-breaker, Amardeep Singh, Senthil Kumar and Gurjinder Singh were successful for IOB while only Vinod Mangugade and Atul Patil managed to score from the penalty spot.
Results
RCF, Mumbai 4 (Shiva Kumar 12th min, 30th, Suhas Patil 58, Mahesh Bagade 69th) beat Bombay Gym President’s XI 1 (Devinder Kumar 46th).
Indian Overseas Bank 3 (Amardeep Singh, Senthil Kumar, Gurjinder Singh) beat Maharashtra State Police 2 (Vinod Manugade, Atul Patil) via the tie-breaker.