Sub-Junior League: Bengaluru down Boca Juniors 2-0

Bengaluru FC Media

Bengaluru FC made it two successive wins after a 2-0 win over Boca Juniors FS in a second round encounter of the Hero Sub-Junior League at the Centre for Sports Excellence in Yelahanka on Thursday.

A goal in each half from Chandan Biju (27’, 50’) secured all three points for the Young Blues who took their tally to six points and stay atop in Group B of the Bengaluru Zone.

After dominating early exchanges, a quick transition allowed Bengaluru to split the rival defence and break the deadlock in the 27th minute. Skipper Gautam Rajesh found Chandan on left, and the attacker, who struck four times in the opener against Jain Academy, cut in past three defenders before firing it into the top-left corner from the edge of the box for his fifth goal of the campaign.

Rajan Mani’s boys doubled their advantage in the second half on a counter-attack that began from the right in the 50th minute. Aditya Kalasur sent Ishan R through down the right flank, and the attacker took one touch before sending in a low cross inside the box for Chandan to finish from close range and seal the 2-0 win.

Bengaluru FC will next play Ananthapur Sports Academy away at the Centre for Sports Excellence in Yelahanka on March 8. 

South United held to a 1-1 draw by Chennaiyin Reserves

South United Media 

South United FC (SUFC) were seconds away from registering their first win of the Hero Second Division League but were thwarted by a 92nd minute goal by Krishna Pandit. 

The opening few minutes saw SUFC dominate possession and make inroads into the Chennaiyin FC (CFC) half. They created some half chances early on troubling their backline but were unable to find a penetrative attack.

In the 15th minute, David took on a speculative shot from the distance that seemed more hopeful than anything, and it found its way past a flapping CFC keeper to give SUFC a 1-0 lead. CFC started to get into the game once they were a goal behind but struggled to test the keeper. Their threat from long throws seemed ominous in terms of being able to get a result form the game.

Meanwhile, CFC seemed poor at the back, allowing the SUFC down the wings and only thwarting attacks with last ditch challenges.

The second half saw CFC defend much better, they found themselves pushing SUFC back at times 

but the backline stood strong for the home side.

On one occasion, the keeper Jayanth had to intervene with a potentially match saving effort as Krishna Pandit got onto the end of a cross and directed the ball towards goal.

The goal that came for CFC in the 92nd minute came as a corner was floated into the box and after pinging around the box, it landed at Krishna’s feet and despite some pressure on him, he found the back of the net with a great driven strike.

Having waited till the 92nd minute to pull off a rescue act, the Chennaiyin FC Reserves side denied SUFC their first win of the season.

Roots FS wins against Sporthood in Hero Sub-Junior League opener

Roots Football School started their season with a 6-1 win in their first home match against SportHood in the Hero Sub-Junior League at the Padukone-Dravid Center of Sports Excellence.

Gavin Rasquinha scored the first goal for Roots FS off a free kick in the fourth minute. Leo Saiju equalized within few minutes later. Samrudh Sharan tapped in a cross from Riki to restore the lead for Roots. Gavin went on to complete a hat trick in the first half, and added another to his tally in the second half. Agasthyaa Thakur scored in the dying moments to make it six for Roots.

Bengaluru FC down Jain Academy 11-0

Bengaluru FC Media 

Bengaluru FC began their Hero Sub-Junior League campaign in style with a massive 11-0 win over Jain Academy for Sports Excellence at the Bengaluru Football Stadium, on Sunday. 

The victory was powered by a four-goal effort from Chandan Biju (1’, 29’, 37’, 46’), while Ishaan Raghunanda (4’, 52’), Yodhin Rishyak (12’, 31’) and skipper Gautam Rajesh (23’, 64’) struck braces. Vinith Venkatesh (9’) was the fifth goalscorer for Bengaluru FC who secured all three points and moved to the summit of Group-B of the Bengaluru Zone in the competition. 

In a completely one-sided affair, the Young Blues dominated right from the start and struck seven times inside the first half. The best of the efforts came from skipper Gautam, who let one fly from 20 yards into the bottom corner. Rajan Mani's boys continued to impress in the second period with four more goals to take the tally into double digits. 

Bengaluru FC will next play BOCA Juniors SC away at the Centre for Sports Excellence in Yelahanka on Thursday, February 28. 

South United lose again in Second Division

South United Media 

The game saw South United FC (SUFC) create number of good chances but Kerala Blasters FCs (KBFC) ruthlessness in front of goal proved too much for the home side, the away team won by 3-1. 

The game took some time to settle down and fall into a pattern where SUFC saw themselves dominate early proceedings. They created a few openings but nothing that tested the keeper yet.

About 15 minutes into the game, KBFC turned the tide and started to threaten, creating one good opportunity after another. Their good spell saw them go in front through MD Esha whose header from a corner beat the keeper all ends up.

The goal saw KBFC grow as an attacking force as they continued to push forward, however, towards the end of the half, SUFC found themselves on the upswing creating a few half chances but without any real penetration
.
Poor passing from SUFC saw a lot of their good work undone. KBFC’s second goal perplexed the SUFC defence as a simple ball over the top beat their offside trap and Nongdamba Naorem latched onto it, beat SUFC custodian Royal and slotted the ball into the unguarded net.

Trailing 2-0 at halftime, South United pressed high at the start of the second half making it difficult for KBFC to get out of the back. This spell saw them peg KBFC back in their own half for a long period, eventually winning a freekick when Sudipta was fouled in a dangerous area. 

Magesh's low hard free kick was parried by the KBFC custodian but the ball landed at Amit's feet and he makes no mistake smashing the ball into the net to bring his side back into the game.

KBFC realised that the next few minutes would be crucial which saw them fly forward, but SUFC responded with their own attacks to keep KBFC on alert. SUFC created at least 3 good chances in a row that went painfully close or were blocked just in time by KBFC defenders.

KBFC were booting the ball up the pitch towards the end of the game and SUFC built each attack from the back, on one such occasion Kishan’s attempted pass was intercepted by substitute Pragyan Gogoi, who took advantage of the space he was given to let fly from range and his left foot screamer beat Royal to make the score 3-1 in favour of KBFC. 

Former footballer Antic no more

Antic Lydwin, 50, ITI employee, and former state and ITI player died of a heart attack today morning. Antic was known for his stylish brand of football. He started with 515 Army Base Workshop and Madura Coats before joining ITI.

Also, Antic acted in minor roles in a few movies. 

A minute of silence was observed during the BDFA B Division League match at the Bengaluru Football Stadium today.

73rd Santosh Trophy zonals from Feb 3 in Neyveli, Vignesh to lead state again

Karnataka team will be travelling to Neyveli, TN to play the South Zone qualifying round of Santosh Trophy, the national football championship for the 2018-19 season. This will be the 73rd edition of the senior national championship. The qualifying matches will be played between February 3 to 8.  

Impressed by their performance in the previous edition, selectors retained faith, and appointed Vignesh Gunashekar captain and Sunil Kumar vice-captain. Karnataka had a remarkable run last year, not before losing to host Bengal in semi final.  

Karnataka is placed in Group A along with Andhra Pradesh and host Tamil Nadu. Group B consists of Kerala, Telengana, Services, and Pondicherry. 


Fixture

• February 5, 2019: Karnataka 5 (Leone Augustine, Sunil Kumar, Manvir Singh, Safeel PP, M Nikhil Raj) Vs Andhra Pradesh 0  
• February 7, 2019: Karnataka Vs Tami Nadu 

Team  
Jayanth Kumar (GK), Mohammed Shahanas, Namgyal Bhutia (U-21), Prasanth Kalinga, Sunil Kumar (Vice Captain), John Peter, Shafeel PP, Ashik AS, Biswa Kr Darjee (U-21), Vignesh Gunashekar (Captain), Shelton Paul D (U-21), Sukesh Leon, Edwin Rossario, Lethaolen Khongsai (U-21), Anirudh Krishna Das, M Nikhil Raj (U-21), Leon Augustine, Manvir Singh, Kaviarsan K, Naorem Roshan Singh

Officials
Head Coach – D Manivannan
Asst. Coach – Gopal 
Goal Keeping Coach - Prem Kumar
Manager - Dr Anthony S L