Air India lifted the Karnataka Super Division League winning the purse of Rs.2 lakh. BPCL ended at the second position (Rs.1.5 lakh). Bronze winning IOCL got Rs.1 lakh while Army Red Rs.50000 for standing fourth.
In a very close contest, Air India topped the points table at 27 points, followed by BPCL at 26 points and IOCL at 25 points.
Going into the last game of the league against Army Red with 24 points, Air India couldn’t have settled for anything less than a victory as they were closely chased by BPCL at 26 points. They didn’t disappoint the sizeable public present at the KSHA stadium, as they beat Army Red 2-1.
The goals for Air India came from Yuvraj Valmiki (26th) and Shivender Singh (35th). For Army, the only game came from Elizer Lakra (65th).
Army Red, usually known for their solid defense, was not at their best in the game on Saturday. A young and athletic front line for Air India, powered by Yuvraj Valmiki, Amir Khan and Lalit Upadhayay, kept on attacking Army Red’s dungeon as the Army men often failed to mark them.
In the 26th minute, Amir Khan, with his superb rally down the left flank, set up Yuvraj. His goal took Air India 1-0. In the 35th minute, Lalit Upadhayay running down the center lane gave a pass to Shivendra Singh positioned on the right side of Army Red’s goalpost. Shivender’s reverse hit into the post found a deflection from Army Red’s Varun’s stick, beating the goalkeeper to end up in the net. Umpire whistle declaring Air India’s lead 2-0 and half time hooter came in tandem.
In the 2nd half, Air India playing a defensive game, made only half-hearted attacks – attacks, primarily fed by Sameer Dad, generated from loose balls or clearances from the defense. Army Red kept Air India’s midfielders and defenders extremely busy as their uncountable attacks continued to get foiled.
At one stage it looked as if Army Red is not able to bear the pressure; Sanwar Ali’s deflection stopped by Adrian, poor trapping by Elizer Lakra at the top of Air India’s circle, miss by Jerum at the goalmouth, miss by Mukesh and M C Singh – Army Red’s miss list goes on.
Unfortunately, Army Red lacked innovative ideas. Sadly for them, the center lane, from where they kept attacking, was heavily guarded by Air India. Many of their long passes in the midfields looked like desperate attempts to find a deflection in Air India’s D.
Air India, on the other side, generated fast paced attack at regular intervals only to repeat what Army Red was doing in their quarter, i.e. missing all of them.
Luck finally favored Army Red when in the 65th minute, M C Singh, in a packed D, gave a pass to Elizer Lakra, who got his required one second with the ball. Adrian beaten and the score board read 2-1 for Air India.
With only a few minutes remaining, Army Red, displaying a heartening performance, put in all they had as they pumped in another 2 threatening moves. One of them by Jerum and Sanwar Ali was brilliantly saved by Adrian. The next one, coordinated by M C Singh, Jerum and Sanwar Ali didn’t find its ultimate destination.
At the final hooter, it seemed that luck didn’t favor Army Red because this was not Air India’s best performance of the league.
The awards:
Title: Air India (Rs. 2 lakhs)
Runners-up: BPCL (Rs. 1.5 lakhs)
Third place: IOCL (Rs. 1 lakh)
Fourth place: Army Red (Rs.50k)
Best Goalkeeper: Swinder Singh (BPCL)
Best Defender: Harpreet Singh (Namdhari)
Best Midfield: Birendra Lakra (BPCL)
Best Forward: S Armugam (Army Red)
Highest Goal scorer: V R Raghunath (23 goals)
Player of the final: Sameer Dad (Air India)
Player of the championship: Inderjit Singh Chadha (IOCL)
Most admired player: Sabu Varkey (BPCL)
Most promising player: Sahay Jayaseelan (MEG)
Fair Play Tournament: Maratha Light Infantry, Belgaum