BDFA XI lifts All India Black Diamond Gold Cup

In a keenly contested match played at the Jamuna Kotma area, Jamuna Colliery, BDFA XI won the All India Black Diamond Gold Cup. In the final, they defeated Sambalpur District 1-0, the only goal of the match came in the 54th minute via BEML striker Stephen.

BDFA XI defeated MP XI 4-1 in the earlier round. This knock-out tourney is organized by the Anuppur District Football Association on behalf of Madhya Pradesh District Football Association.

Team: Nagendra (GK, KSP), Dilip (GK, HAL), Rakesh Babu, Vinod Kumar, Avinash, Md. Hayath Khalandar, Stephen (all BEML), Lokesh G, Sathosh, Nandakumar, Sudan Raj, Regien (all RWF), B.V Pradeep (Capt), Magesh Babu, Srinath ( all KSP), B Praksh (Postal), S.Nagaraj (BEL), Kiran Kumar (Bangalore Mars)

Coach - Ravi Babu and Devoo - Manager

HAL redeem full points

Riding on an opportunistic goal from Malemngamba Meetei in the second-half, the aircraftmen secured full points from their home engagement against Mumbai FC. The good run continued for this public sector team after remaining unbeaten for the 4th consecutive home match.

The game was played in an attacking style with both teams having their share of chances to score. Xavier Vijaykumar made some splendid moves from the right flank providing scoring opportunities, however the strikers failed to capitalize on the chances. 

The second half saw a resurged HAL making several forays in the Mumbai FC defense - seemed like the goal was just about a matter of time to come.

In the 71st minutes, winger Ankit Sharma who replaced Hamza in the first-half, gave a pass for  Malemngamba after collecting a flick from Xavier, Malem who was left unmarked came running and accurately placed the ball to the goal. This is the 2nd time Malem’s goal sealed victory for his team. He was the true candidate for the man-of-the-match.

With 19 points after 16 rounds, HAL is safely placed in 8th position, they have successfully averted the relegation scare. HAL now travels to Goa to play their next match against the front-runner Salgaonkar. The round 17  match will be played on Friday, March 4.

Community Gathering

Right at the high-drama of India-England cricket match played at Chinnaswamy stadium, a few hundred meters away from this venue, these kids face-painted  to cheer their hero Noel Wilson.

Hundreds of Anglo Indians turned up to see their icon from Austin Town Noel  playing. Such a great feeling!

Long live these small communities for lending unconditional support for their heroes, moreover long live these small pockets like Gauthampuram and Austin Town in Bangalore, Khadki, Ghorpadi, and Camp in Pune, Malappuram in Kerala, and Mahilpur in Punjab for churning out footballers.

HAL to go for kill

The memory of the first leg match is fresh in every players mind and they are ready to turn the tide in their favor. It was a classic example of We played the game but they won the game in the earlier encounter against Mumbai FC, where HAL lost by a goal (http://gardencitysoccerstars.blogspot.com/2010/12/mumbai-fc-halts-hal.html).

The rain in the last evening has softened the ground, however, HAL is no mood to go soft against their opponent. After playing several rounds at the Kanteerava Stadium, the football pitch is now compatible to the HAL wards, and Xavier VijayKumar is back in the team to help the cause.

Mumbai FC might not have stars on their rank, but the team is doing better than expected, and they placed 5th in the points table. The return of national striker Abhishek Yadav from the national camp has strengthened  the team.

Also, the team boasts of several Bangalore connections.

• Medio, Noel Wilson playing for Mumbai FC since its birth is from Austin Town. Before he went out to play for the major clubs in India like Churchill Brothers, Mohun Bagan, and Mohamedan Sporting, Noel learnt his tricks while playing in the Nandan ground.
• Current years recruit Deepak Prakash passed out from TFA this year is from Murphy Town. This place is hailed as the breeding ground of Bangalore football.
• Another mid-fielder Kuttimani Sampath Kumar, a product of DYSS is back in Mumbai FC after spending a season with Pune FC. However, Kuttimani is out due to double yellow-card suspension and talented Deepak Prakash will be taking Kuttimani’s position for tomorrow’s match.

HAL hold Mohun Bagan

The mariners failed to come out of the jinx of the Aircraftsmen and ended their Bangalore campaign in 1-1 draw. A brilliant strike from Surkumar Singh gave Mohun Bagan the lead in the 30th minute of the match, J Murali was quick enough to equalize for HAL, and with both teams failing to get past the goalkeeper the game ended in the same result.

It was the 3rd consecutive draw for the Subhas Bhowmik’s ward and the HAL boys have every reason to be happy as they remain unbeaten to Bagan in this season.

Mohun Bagan started well with Chiddi and Muritala giving jitters to the opponents’ defense.  The goal seemed to be coming just in a matter of time. Surkumar Singh came up with a brilliant swerving long ranger. The ball was precisely placed at the corner of the goal that was beyond the reach of HAL goalkeeper.

HAL captain J Murali cut short the joy for the Bagan fans when he equalized from a pass from R C Prakash. Murali took a ground shot at the far post beyond Sangram’s reach.

After replacing Ishfaq Ahmed in the second half, Satish Kr. Jr. displayed his class when ran down from the right flank after dribbling past couple of HAL defenders. TD Bhowmik rates him highly, he feels that Satish needs to harness his skills and has a bright future.

Captain Murali was today’s man of the match.
 
HAL manager M Muralidharan was a happy man, “We played as a team today and looked like were playing good match.” Muralidharan added, “Everybody carried out their role as per plan, today’s performance was much better, and this can be termed as the best home match so far.”

After the match, TD Bhowmik stressed the importance of Baretto-element for the team, “I missed him as a player and more than that today the team missed a leader in Barretto.”

The coach lauded his team for performing well in such a bad football pitch and seemed content with the fact that no one got injured, “With such hard and bounce, this ground is ideal for knee injury”, added the coach.

HAL vs Mohun Bagan: This match big match!

Come tomorrow, Sunday the 20th Feb and HAL will be up against the team that they defeated in the first leg. Payback time for Mohun Bagan as they lock horn against the aircraftsmen and that too at their own backyard!

The aircraftsmen will be missing the service of the ever-dependable Xavier VijayKumar, who is serving one match suspension due double booking (against East Bengal and JCT).

Both the teams practiced today at the match venue, Shree Kanteerava Stadium in the morning. HAL looked dead-serious at the practice session, seems they have a plan to keep Bagan at bay.

HAL team management is hopeful, they reckon It is anybody’s match and the team perform well on that very day would be the winner.

Apart from missing crucial players, Bagan TD looked like a worried man, thanks to the football pitch. National-level football is being played here after many years, and the ground is uneven, with bald-patches in many place. Minutes after Mohanraj started practicing, he experienced a groin pain, and was out of practice for the entire session. 

Bhowmik recollected the 70’s decade, where he played at the same ground, which was in much better condition. It’s a crucial situation for him  - needs to garner full points, also ensuring the players are free from any kind of injury.

For HAL, it is nothing but keeping up to the same performance that they displayed in their away match.

HAL share points with JCT

The stage was set to accumulate another 3 points against a team that HAL has beaten in the away match, however, things didn’t go as per the script, and finally HAL shared points with JCT.
 

What looked like one more home win against a team just below HAL in the points table, didn’t quite happen. Sukhwinder Singh trained JCT played well for the most part of the first half, kept the defense steady in the second half, and took an important point from this away encounter.

HAL remains in 9th position with 15 points in the kitty, while JCT in the 10th spot with a point less.

Sweet win for HAL

The jinx is finally broken and HAL can win home match! After struggling in the first half, HAL displayed brilliant attacking prowess in the later half, and earned much needed full points from their home encounter.
 

 Maleng celebrates his goal

I-league is now half-way thru, after this win today, HAL stand in the 9th position in the points table. Certainly few notches to go before they avoid relegation scare. ONGC looks hapless at the bottom of the points table. However, their coach hopes to make amends and turn the table in the return leg.

 ONGC's new Asian recruit, Japanese Katsumi Yusa did not had a decent outing

ONGC looked impressive in the first half, they were pretty close to scoring. Striker Babatunde with able support from Jatin Singh in the midfield jolted HAL defense. HAL was looking very ordinary, with no one able to hold the half line, they missed several dead ball situations.

RC Prakash's goal was ruled out due to offside

HAL returned in the second half with a purpose, they raided ONGC defense at regular interval. The goal came in the 70th minute of the match. Vijesh Kumar’s passed for Maleng, Maleng grounded the ball thru his chest, and then took a superb shot to the goal. ONGC custodian was taken by surprise and could not do much except looking at the ball going towards the goal. 

 Hamza fouled after trying to break thru Ricky Joy's defense

Last few minutes of the match belonged to the oilmen. Some elementary mistake from defender Lilian  Kenneth almost fetched ONGC a goal. Rohit Chand timely intercepted and foiled the attack.

 Rohit Chand had a great day in office

ONGC coach, Subrata Bhattacharya, popularly known as PotlaDa, was all praise for the HAL defense, he was pretty impressed by the way the HAL defenders tackled ONGC’s two Nigerian strikers. Also, he failed to understand the way his strikers gave way to score after getting so close.

 A hug from the manager and teammates

HAL manager Muralidharan looked happy after this win, he believes his team will display much better performance in the next matches. Also, hopes to get a foreigner registered in the current transfer window, one Brazilian is coming for trial in few days.

HAL will take 10th placed JCT in their next round match at the same venue on Saturday, February 12.

HAL to go all out against ONGC

In a rather desperate attempt to set their home record straight, HAL is going to shell out all their available resources against ONGC tomorrow. ONGC, lying at the bottom of the points table plans to for seeking points in their away match. An exciting clash is on the cards, to say the least.
 

Quick pep talk before the ONGC match

Xavier is back from injury to provide the much needed sheen in HAL attack, another striker RC Prakash and medio Vijesh Kumar seems to be free from injury. However, HAL will be missing the service of injured James Singh jr. and Nigerian Femi, serving one match suspension due to double booking.
 

Xavier takes a corner in the practice

HAL has signed former India under-19 international Ankit Sharma and a keeper from Kolkata, also, they will be signing another defender in the current transfer window.

 Ankit Sharma

ONGC has signed a Japanese midfielder, Katsumi Yusa on their roster. This player from the Asian-quota is a skillful midfielder and rated highly by the ONGC coach Subrata Bhattacharya (popularly known as Potla). He replaces Jotin Singh, who seems to have joined a defense unit, and proved difficult for the ONGC management to get  him on loan.

Jotin was one of the trios who moved on from HAL to ONGC in this season. It will be interesting to see how the other two of the trio, Ricky Joy and Bimal Minz perform against their former team.

 Some inconsequential government sports meet taking place in the Kanteerava stadium participated by some 20-odd participants all nearing retirement age. One really fails to understand the reason for hosting such event in a venue like this. The metal ball in this shot put event is causing major damage to the ground. The spot is on the right edge of the small box inside the penalty area. One important I-league match will be played here tomorrow. The hapless football association volunteers were shooed away by the Kanteerava stadium officials when they requested them to host the event in a different place in the stadium. 

Such is the apathy of football in this country!

FIFA turf consultant visits Bangalore Football Stadium

FIFA representative of the artificial turf, Dr. Eric Harrison inspected the pitch of the Bangalore Football Stadium. This visit was a part of the inspection process deployed by FIFA. The artificial turf laying process started more than 3 months ago and Dr. Harrison made a similar visit in the middle of September last year.

 

The inspection went on smoothly with the consultant expressing satisfaction on the work done till date. Also accompanied Dr. Harrison was Alberto Colaso from AIFF. The artificial turf will reach Bangalore by February 17 and it will take another 3 weeks time to lay the turf on the ground.

Dr.Eric Harrison will make another visit on the 2nd week of March after the turf is laid to certify that the ground is in playable condition.