MHL 2009: Sept 17: RCF beat MPT, Customs draw Central Railway
Mumbai, September 17: Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers recorded their second win, overcoming Mumbai Port Trust 2-1 in the Mumbai Super League, currently on at the Mahindra Stadium. In the second match, Mumbai Customs snatch a point from their goalless draw against formidable Central Railway. The win takes RCF to 6 points in 3 matches while Port Trust remains on single point from as many as 5 matches. Central Railway who have a win in 4 matches have 5 points in their kitty.
RCF opened their account in the 22nd minute of play from their second penalty corner. Irfan Khan was the scorer from an indirect execution of the award which beat Sudhir Dixit in goal. Port Trust made a few forays but could not go beyond a penalty corner in the first session. The old firm of Mumtaz Ahmed and Leonard Pereira combined well on the left with the former having a shy at the rival goal, only to miss it by inches. RCF had an opportunity too coming their way when Irfan and Boon D’Souza combined nicely. But B.K.Muthanna fumbled at the opportune moment.
After this miss close to half time, RCF came back with a bang. A splendid solo run by Muthanna on the left led to him feeding Laxman Rao in the circle. He in turn essayed a solid reverse hit only to be denied by Sudhir Dixit guarding the M.P.T goal. Finally RCF got the insurance goal in the 56th minute of play. Laxman Rao had a try on the reverse which was partially saved by a defender. Winger Mahesh Bagade who was lurking by seized the opportunity and sounded the boards.
Port Trust pulled one back with a couple of minutes left through a field goal by Bijendra Singh. Naresh Bagade (RCF) was shown the yellow card in the 48th minute of play.
It was a story of missed chances by both sides in the Customs-Central Railway match. It started with Pradeep Kumar of Customs missing the target by inches as early as the sixth minute of the match. Had he opted to pass to his compatriot Neeraj Yadav maybe the end result would have been different. Central had a good opportunity thereafter, with Ejaz Qureshi entering the circle. But he hit tamely into Custom’s keeper Lincoln Taites pads.
Central went on the offensive to try and wrest the lead before the interval. They got three consecutive penalty corners which went waste owing to lack of a proper plan. Not to be pressurized, Customs came into the picture with brilliant runs from the right by Savio Nayak. His efforts failed to bear fruit due to Akhtar Mirza sweeping the ball over and when Savio himself flicked one, Central Railway keeper Hirojit stuck his left pad out at the right moment to deny a certain goal. The second half saw a determined Customs defend stubbornly with Roshan Keisham standing firm like a rock. However the Manipuri was injured on the face following a deflection off Olympian Rahul Singh’s stick and had to be carried out with a bleeding nose. Customs endured the loss and held out for a well deserved draw.
There will be no league matches at this venue tomorrow