S. Rly., SAI play out an exciting draw

Southern Railway equalised at the death to pull off an exciting 2-2 draw against a spirited Sports Authority of India (SAI) in a senior division contest of the St. Joseph’s-Chennai Football Association league championship at the Nehru Stadium, here on Friday.

Southern Railway dominated most of the first session, especially after scoring the first goal in the 15th minute by striker P.C. Riju. SAI captured the hearts of the few present at the venue in the second session with fine passes, long range and one-touch, and excellent co-ordination between the midfield and frontline.

At the receiving end

Southern Railway was at the receiving end, unable to control the speed and accurate passes of the young SAI players. It equalised in the 56th minute through Ameerudeen. The striker pushed one deftly past the custodian off a pass from S. Kaviarasan.

SAI suffered a setback when it lost G.V. Hariharan for committing his second offence (yellow card), this time on Elamurugan. Down to 10 men, SAI didn’t lose heart and attacked with gusto. Ameerudeen (Man of the Match) outran Balasubramanian and Meiyappan to unleash a powerful left-footer to put SAI ahead in the 85th minute.

With few seconds remaining for the final whistle, Venkatesan lobbed one over the custodian to put the smile back on coach Soundararajan and his teammates.

At the half-way stage, Indian Bank is at the top with 13 points from five matches, followed by the defending champion AG’s with 11 from five matches.