Football is not a 45 minutes game

If only the Aircraftmen would have realized that football is not a 45 minutes game and game does not get over in first half, then they could’ve easily avoided relegation.

If only the Aircraftmen would have realized that the importance of missing a scoring chance, then they could’ve easily avoided relegation.

Dempo defeated HAL 3-0 at the Bangalore Football Stadium today and  continued their dominance in I-League. Dempo maintain their lead in the points table with 27 points, followed closely by Churchill Brothers with 26 points. 

Playing on the Bangalore Football Stadium artificial turf for the first time, Dempo started tentatively. They had some early exchanges, however, HAL were seen to be making maximum purchase in their known front. They could have easily gone ahead in the 11th minute, only if striker Abdulla Hamza not missed an easy opportunity. 

None from HAL’s striking force could do justice from the deft crosses that came from the right wing. 

Dempo took the lead in the 55th minute by a penalty. Central defender, Biju Kumar committed a handball from a perfect kick from the top-right of the penalty box – that had goal written on it. Referee Pratap Singh out rightly awarded a penalty to Dempo and booked the offender.  Ranty made the score tally 1-0. 

Next goal came after 12 minutes. Antony Pereira’s free-kick was commendably saved by HAL keeper P Pramod. However, no one from the defense came for clearance, Ranty Martins latched on the ball that ricocheted to him, and took his goal tally to 13. 

The third goal came in the added time, when Climax Lawrence getting behind HAL defense and looped the ball accurate to the goal. 

A fight between David and Goliath - HAL vs Dempo

News from the camp today:

Dempo - Ranti, "Will score a three tomorrow!"

HAL - Muralidharan, coach, "We will missing two key players tomorrow. Have to play a defensive game. With the missing players, we would've surely played a 4-4-2 formation." 
The mood can set the fate of the match, one can surely guess! The only good news from HAL is the return of dependable Rohit Chand. However, we've wait till January to see the talented Nepalese player in action.   

It might be termed as a fight between David and Goliath – round 12 and top in the points table, Dempo taking on bottom-rung HAL.   

After keeping a clean slate till the first seven rounds, Armando Colaso’s men went down with defeat in the next three rounds, and then finally on a recovery mode by winning against their last match against Sporting Clube de Goa.

Dempo is not taking HAL lightly, “Though, they’ve been on the receiving end, but this is a home match after all – known territory. Hope they won’t choose this one as their comeback match”, grins coach Colaso. 

Coach reckons, “We started quite well, boys went tad complacent, and as a result lost those three matches. The artificial pitch here is relatively new and seems to be settling down, quite an unknown territory for Dempo. It might play a role in tomorrow’s match!” 

“All we need is to collect three points from here”, sums up Armando Colaso.

11 goals and leading the top scorers list, Nigerian Ranty Martins is eager to add to his goal tally, especially when the likes of Tolgay Ozbey, Odafe Okolie, James Moga are closely breathing down his neck. 

Ranti is leading the pack, "will score a three", said confidently!

With 8 eight internationals in their ranks, Dempo looks to be fielding a strong team against an out-of-sorts HAL. 

Adding misery, HAL will be missing the services of two key players owing to injury - defender Femi Joseph and mid-fielder Sudheesh Muttath.

International Debabrata Roy is playing for Dempo, however, there's no Rohit Chand to thwart the attacks from right flank

Match is slated for 3 pm on Wednesday, December 28, 2011.

Morale boosting win for Salgaocar

Questions galore, yet again...

Why do you replace a central midfielder with a side back, just when the team is down by a goal? 

Need big bodied central defenders, alright agreed, why not the same in the strike force?

Especially, when you have huge Luciano and Khelemba! Introduce Sudovic in the attack along with Hamza, the later could never trouble Salgaokar defense.

Same script for the Garden City team – failed to collect any point from their home games and 9^th loss from the 10 rounds played so far.

It was a moving sight for the last season’s champion and this season’s Federation Cup winner Salgaocar Sports Club when they scored the only goal for match. A much savored moment enjoyed by the entire team that was eluded in the last four I-league encounters!

The same script almost repeated here for them – hit the target without any fruitful result. However, in 65th minute, Ryuji Sueka’s goal from a pass Chiddi Edeh broke the jinx for Salgaocar Sports Club. 

This morale-boosting win will help Kareem’s wards to display a better game when they take on MohunBagan in the next round.

Round 10 - HAL Vs Salgaocar

Nine points from as many matches and resting at the bottom half of the points table. Not an ideal way to see the champions of last season Salgaocar Sports Club. No win from the last four encounters – matter of great concern! However, things might not look that apparent when you have the likes of Karim Bencherifa managing the team. 

As his usual way of looking at things, he is taking positives out of it, “We still got nine points, we have won Federation Cup this season, and we are leaders in Goa Pro League. These to me are the positives, and I’m trying to inculcate this to my boys.”

“Who cares about the 26 games we will be playing in I-league. To us, we’ve only one game, the most important one for now, which we need to win tomorrow,” Adds the Moroccan. 

Salgaocar would be going with Chiddi Edeh on upfront, Ryuji Sueka on the middle, and Luciano Sabrosa on defense, leaving out the other foreigner Elijah Junior in reserve. 

Task cut out for HAL defense, they are getting goals alright, but failing to defend them. Conceding four goals after leading 2-0 till 60 minutes against Mohun Bagan is the biggest example. They have to plug-in their defense right away. However, central-back Femi Joseph Adeola’s injury can hinder their attempt. 

Match is slated for a 3 pm on Sunday, December 18, 2011.

Bagan rally to beat HAL

An ardent HAL fan questions?

•  Why did HAL go defensive right from the 46th minute, even before Femi went out.
•  Why was RC replaced, he played his best game after many years.
•  Why did Hamza came down in defense?
•  HAL looked best when they were attacking, even in patches in 2nd half, why this defensive mindset?
• What is the count of I-League matches in this season when HAL took the lead and then squandered big time?

The Aircraftsmen yet again failed to hold a lead. With just a point from 9 matches, HAL is simply losing the plot!

Putting up a spirited show in the later half, Mohun Bagan came back from a two-goal deficit, pumped four, and a registered a morale-boosting win in their 9^th round match. For the Aircraftsmen, same saga repeated, could not hold to a comfortable 2-0 margin, and paid the price for instilling over-cautious approach in the second-half. 

Bagan could have taken the lead right in the 18^th minute. Left flank was operating very smoothly, Snehasish Chakrabarty’s cross for Barreto, created a one-on-one situation with HAL keeper. The latter's left footer was magnificently saved by Gautam Debnath. Otherwise crafty left half, Snehasish Chakrabarty was responsible for couple of misses after holding the ball for more than the needed time. 

25 minutes to the game, hosts took the lead thru a Malemngangba Meeti neat header from RC Prakash cross. 6 minutes later, another one, this time from striker Hamza! Bagan keeper, Sangram came out of charge and took no time for Hamza to place the ball to the goal. 

Post lemon-break, everyone thought HAL set to pocket full-points for the first time in this season. However, their skipper Femi Adeola came out of the pitch injured, over-defensive HAL paid the price and started conceding goals.

Star Odafa Okolie, latched on a corner from Snehasish to score the first goal for MohunBagan in the 60^th minute. 

HAL got a quick chance to increase their lead. RC Prakash did enough to pass the ball to Vinoth Kumar. With Bagan keeper and defender out of position, all young Vinoth needed was to touch the ball, however, he failed, and missed an open net. 

The corner combination of Snehasish and Odafa again worked for Bagan in the 69^th minute. This time from a back header that came via Jewel Raja’s header and gave Bagan the equalizer. 

Mohun Bagan took lead in the 89^th minute from a move from left flank orchestrated by Syed Rahim Nabi. Odafa’s shot from Snehasish cross, went to Jewel. The later, using his right footed, gets the ball past the goal. 

Substitute Manish Maithani joined the party in added time, his solo left footed effort after dribbling past few HAL players from outside the box, yielded the best goal of the match. 

MohunBagan Technical Director, Subrata Bhattachayra looked relaxed, “Forget the game we played, important is that we’ve got full points. We did not play a good first-half, however, during the break, told my boys to play from the wings, and that worked for us today.” 

Redemption time for Bagan

Winless in the last two I-league encounters and a loss to the minnows in local league, McDowell Mohunbagan is definitely seeking redemption when they meet the cellar-dwelling HAL.  However, still no respite for the Subrata Bhattachayra-managed team, as several players from the starting line-up is out injured. 

One again - will you be our savior?

Team is without medio Hudson Lima, Rakesh Masih, striker Sunil Chettri is injured after dishing out a stellar performance in the recently concluded SAFF cup, Chettri’s team mate and steady performer, Syed Rahim Nabi, with 4-stitches seemed to a doubtful starter. The list is endless. Also, compounded Aussie Daniel Zeleny not able to provide solidity in Bagan defense!

Team under the watchful eye of Technical Director (TD), Subrata Bhattachayra had a straining workout at the venue today evening. 

Let's hope the football loving people of Bangalore gets to see Odafa magic!

HAL managed to gather only one point from eight rounds, Subrata is not taking his opponent lightly, “No way we’re underestimating them! HAL will get the home support, they are bound to play well. We’re a big team and we always look for full points even in away games.”

With 5 points separating Dempo and Mohun Bagan, who are currently at the 5^th spot in the league table, Subrata sounded confident, “This is marathon league, Dempo will surely loose points in their coming matches, we’re very much in the title chase.” However, what is disheartening for the Bagan TD is the rarity of getting a full-strength team. 

The man from the Garden city is all smiles

HAL is looking to bank on the low esteem of their opponent - MB lost their last match in the local league.

Manager Muralidharan said, “This is our home match and we’ll go all-out.” He further said, “We will field a fit team. Do not want to disclose the team now and the decision will be taken only after the team manager’s meeting.”

Match is slated for a 3 PM kickoff on Wednesday, December 14.

Coaching/selection camp for U-19 Nationals

The Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA) is conducting coaching-cum-selection

camp to finalize the Karnataka State U-19 team. The Karnataka State team will be participating in the U-19 junior national, Dr. B. C. Roy Trophy 2Oll-12.

The coaching-cum-selection camp will be held at the Bangalore Football Stadium from December 2, 2011, 7.30 AM to 9.30 AM.

Players born on or after January 1, 1995 are eligible to participate in the coaching-cum-selection camp.