Remembering Soccor Velho

Air India player died of heart attack in Goa after playing a friendly game against India junior team. This unfortunate incident happened at him. 

It was just like the other day, when a very average Air India team ripped part host HAL’s defense.  Date April 11, 2011, venue Sree Kanterava Stadium, and the below average Aircraftmen was playing their I-League encounter against Airmen. Striking at the right time, the Airmen from Mumbai put up a convincing 3-1 win.  

Right winger Soccor Velho was a revelation that day, he scored the second goal for Air India, and came close to score many! His solo run from the half line terrorized HAL defense. 

April 17, 2011, I-League 10-11, Round XXII, HAL 1 Air India 3: Soccor the scorer, worthy name

Chirag Kerala looks confident

With less than a fortnight of taking charge of Chirag Kerala, the man from Sri Lanka, Md. Nizam Packeer Ali seems to be in total control of his team. For the last two days team Chirag Kerala had a strenuous workout under his tutelage.

Ali came to the Chirag Kerala board late due to visa issue, but he was in constant touch with the support staff. He passed on instructions for his wards thru them and feels his team is good shape. 

Friday evening session in the match venue comprised of off the exercise, set pieces, and a shorter version one- touch game. The boys looked fit and enjoyed the session.

The football lovers from the Garden City can hope for an entertaining I-League season opener.

MEG lifts 2010-11 BDFA Super Division league

Beating BEML in a convincing 2-0 margin, MEG lifted the 2010-11 BDFA Super Division league title. 
 

Super Division Champion MEG



Hardworking medio Ramu opened the account for MEG from a Hmar’s header in the 10th minute of the match. Later in the first-half, Vineet scored another one and sealed the fate for BEML.

MEG turned out to be the Super Division champ with a game in hand, they stay unbeaten with 9 wins a draw with a stunning goal difference of 29 (31-2).


MEG plays their last match on Thursday, June 28 against the champion of previous season HAL. The later apparently lost out from the champion’s race after playing a lackluster 1-1 draw against State Police.

2011 BDFA A Division Team Standing

Table updated - Friday, July 8, 2011

Total matches played - 54

Note: Royals and Orientals pulled out from BDFA A-division on June 22, 2011.

2011 BDFA Super Division Team Standing

Table updated - Thursday, July 31, 2011
Total matches played - 66

 

East Bengal to go all out

A back-to-back away loss might have slimmed down the title hope, but then Trevor Morgan and his red and gold brigade is right here at the garden city and ready to take the Aircraftmen for tomorrow’s Round 26 battle.

The game will be played at the newly laid artificial turf at Bangalore Football Stadium. For hosts HAL, this will be the only I-league match they will be playing here for the season, they have one more round to play, against Dempo, which will be an away encounter.

East Bengal looked as if they have dealt with earlier losses positively. Under the watchful eyes of Trevor Morgan, the players had a tight practice session at the match venue today morning. The players looked relaxed, they enjoyed every bit of the rigorous session.

Coach is positive, “I am not giving up title hope, though we’ve slide down after our performance in Goa, yet we have come up, and looking for big win the remaining matches”, he also adds, “To stay close in contention, we’ve to win by a big margin, at least 4-5 goals, and also hope for a similar topple by Salgaonkar.”

“We’ll go all out!”, summarizes  coach Morgan.

While the new turf came up late in the season, HAL is looking to make full use of it. They have been practicing here for last four days, and quite impressed with the facility.

“Players have combined well in this condition, we’ll give our best.”, said manager Muralidharan.

Only win in the remaining 2 matches can help them to avoid relegation. Scoring has been the bane for HAL, their downfall started from Round 20, when they were walloped by Indian Arrows 4-0.

The battle is between a team fighting to survive in I-league and a team contending for the title – both giving their best show.

We have an Exciting match in prospect!

Change in HAL's schedule for the last 2 rounds

• Round XXIV: May 23June 1, 2011 Vs Dempo
• Round XVI: May 2928, 2011  Vs East Bengal

MYFC Finals 2010-11: Sukantha Nagar Vidhya Niketan emerge champs

Midfielder Jayanto Mondal and striker Bishal Harizan proved a deadly combination for Sukantha Nagar Vidhya Niketan , Kolkata, the duo coming together on two occasions to help fashion a 3-1 victory over Government Sports School, Bangalore, and emerge champions of the Mahindra Youth Football Inter-City Challenge 2010-11, promoted by the Procam International.

Sukanta Nagar Vidhya Niketan, winner of the Inter-City Leg
of the Under-14 Mahindra Youth Football Challenge, 2010-11

The Kolkata lads, who had impressed throughout the tournament, proved too strong for their counterparts from Bangalore, slamming in three goals in the first half of the final played at the Kanteerava Stadium, here, on Saturday.

The Mahindra Youth Football Challenge is the Mahindra Group’s commitment to promote football at the grassroots level. The company has partnered with Scottish football giants, Celtic Football Club, who will take on the responsibility of training and developing young talent identified through the initiative.

The prolific Harizan struck as early as the third minute of the game, set up beautifully by a pass from Mondal. However, spurred on by the partisan crowd, Govt. Sports School hit back a minute later through Anthony Rushith to level scores.

Jayanto Mondal, allowed space to move in the midfield, continued to make dangerous moves and one of his crosses found Harizan in the 12th minute, who headed home to give the Kolkatta team the lead. Mondal then set up the third goal for Sahid Hossain to make the issue safe for Sukantha Nagar Vidhya Niketan.

The second half was a scrappy affair in comparison and even though Govt. Sports School did not score, they did manage to keep the Kolkatta forwards at bay.

Sukantha Vidhya Niketan took home Rs 50,000 for their efforts, while the Govt. Sports School, Bangalore had to be content with Rs 30,000.

All the winners received the trophies and certificates from Chief guests, Shantha Kumar and former international Ulganathan along with Armuayananaigan (Asian Gold Medalist), A. R. Khalil (President, KSFA) and M P Swamy (Chairmen, BDFA).  

Result:

Sukantha Nagar Vidhya Niketan, Kolkata 3 (Bishal Harijan-2 and Sahid Hossain) beat Government Sports School, Bangalore 1 (Anthony Rushith S)

• Man of the Match: Bishal Harizan, Sukantha Nagar Vidhya Niketan, Kolkata
• Best Goalkeeper: Akshai R, St. Joseph’s BHH School, Calicut, Kerala
• Best Defender: Ashish Turi, Sukantha Nagar Vidhya Niketan, Kolkata
• Best Midfielder: Bikash Mallick, Sukantha Nagar Vidhya Niketan, Kolkata
• Best Striker: Bishal Harijan, Sukantha Nagar Vidhya Niketan, Kolkata

 

MYFC Finals 2010-11: Day 4 and 5 - Bangalore and Kolkata schools to clash in the final

Day 4

Bangalore's Santhosh Kumar takes a shot on goal

Star performer for the Bangalore school, Mani Maran R

• Thursday, April 28, 2011, 7.30 am: St. Joseph BHH School, Calicut 0 Vs Sukanta Nagar Vidyaniketan, Kolkata 6 (Bikash Harijan-3, Jayanto Mondal-2, and Nehal Ahmed)
• Thursday, April 28, 2011, 8.30 am: CRPF School, Rohini, Delhi 2 (Mukesh Kumar) Vs Infant Jesus High School, Goa 0
• Thursday, April 28, 2011, 9.30 am: Government Sports High School, Bangalore 5 (Santhosh Kumar-2, Mani Maran-2, and Jeevan)Vs Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai 0

Day 5

Bangalore School's Santhosh Kumar in action

• Friday, April 29, 2011, 7.30 am: Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai 0 Vs St. Joseph BHH School, Calicut 0
• Friday, April 29, 2011, 8.30 am: Sukanta Nagar Vidyaniketan, Kolkata 2 (Mutassir Siddique-2) Vs CRPF School, Rohini, Delhi 0
• Friday, April 29, 2011, 9.30 am: Government Sports High School, Bangalore 2 (Santhosh Kumar and Mani Maran)Vs Infant Jesus High School, Goa 0

Final Points Table

 

MYFC Finals 2010-11: Day 3 - Government Sports School trounce St. Joseph's school, keep hopes alive

Government Sports School Bangalore outplayed St. Joseph's BHH School, Calicut, Kerala 2-0 to keep their hopes for the final berth alive in the Final leg of the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge, played at the Bala Gangadharanatha Swamy International Residential School ground, Bangalore, on Wednesday.

Bangalore thus scored their first win from three games and face Don Bosco, Mumbai in a crucial encounter on Thursday, that will decide which of the two schools advance.

The Mumbai School scored a 2-0 win over CRPF, Delhi for their second win from three games.

Meanwhile Sukanta Nagar Vidya Niketan, Kolkata continued their formidable run, scoring their third big win from as many matches, and this time trouncing Infant Jesus High School, Goa 6-0 to virtually seal their berth in the final stage.

CRPF School, Delhi have lost all their three matches, the school from Kerala have one win, one draw and one loss, while the school from Goa has one win and two losses in the six-teams league.

The Mahindra Youth Football Challenge is the Mahindra Group's commitment to promote football at the grassroots level. The company has partnered with Scottish football giants, Celtic Football Club, who will take on the responsibility of training and developing young talent identified through the initiative.

The Bangalore team started the game as favorites and dominated proceedings from the word go. Within 10 minutes they were awarded a penalty for a handball in the box and Mani Maran, later adjudged the 'Star Performer' of the match, stepped up to score.

Mani Maran of Govt. Sports School, Bangalore scores in
a penalty against St. Joseph's BHH School, Calicut, Kerala

The Bangalore forwards were kept at bay for the rest of the first half but another goal was inevitable and it came in the 35th minute when Santosh M scored with a long ranger from outside the box, which left the Kerala keeper stranded.

• Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 7.30 am:  Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai 2 (Merick Fernandes and Neville D'cunha) Vs CRPF School, Rohini, Delhi 0
• Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 8.30 am: Government Sports High School, Bangalore 2 (Mani Maran and Santhosh Kumar) Vs St. Joseph BHH School, Calicut 0
• Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 9.30 am: Sukanta Nagar Vidyaniketan, Kolkata 6 (Bishal Harizan 3, Nehal Ahmed, Sahid Hussain, and Santanu Das) Vs Infant Jesus High School, Goa 0
  

MYFC Finals 2010-11: Day 2 - Bangalore draws with Delhi

In the six-teams league encounter at the Bala Gangadharanatha Swamy International Residential School ground, Bangalore, here on Tuesday, Government Sports High School, Bangalore played an 1-1 draw with CRPF School, Rohini, Delhi, in their second match of the Inter-City Leg of the Under-14 Mahindra Youth Football Challenge.

In other matches, Sukanta Nagar Vidyaniketan, Kolkatta thrashed Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai 5-0, while St. Joseph’s BHH School, Calicut played a goal less drew with Infant Jesus High School, Goa.

The Mahindra Youth Football Challenge is the Mahindra Group’s commitment to promote football at the grassroots level. The company has partnered with Scottish football giants, Celtic Football Club, who will take on the responsibility of training and developing young talent identified through the initiative.

It was tough and close contest between two equally matched teams, with the game getting quite physical in patches. It was a flying start by Bangalore School, in the 10th minutes of match, Bangalore skipper Santhosh Kumar put their team 1-0 up. The Bangalore school was leading 1-0 in the lemon-break.

In the second half, Delhi’s CRPF School started the game very strongly, but couple of early chances were missed by the Delhi strikers. In the 30th minute of match, Delhi’s Mukesh Kumar equalized the score. After the goal the game is an open affair with both teams having equal attempts. But it was Delhi’s Maan Singh, who brilliantly beat two defenders, but his short hit the post and came out.

• Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 7.30 am: Government Sports High School, Bangalore 1 (Santhosh Kumar) Vs CRPF School, Rohini, Delhi 1 (Mukesh Kumar) 
• Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 8.30 am: Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai 0 Vs Sukanta Nagar Vidyaniketan, Kolkata 5 (Bishal Harizan, Muttasir Siddique [2], Jayanto Mondal, Bishal Mallick)
• Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 9.30 am: St. Joseph BHH School, Calicut 0 Vs Infant Jesus High School, Goa 0

After playing 2 rounds, Kolkata team looks to be the clear leader in the points table. 

Mahindra Youth Football Challenge Finals 2010-11: Day 1

• Monday, April 25, 2011, 7.30 am: Government Sports High School, Bangalore 0 Vs Sukanta Nagar Vidyaniketan, Kolkata 3 (Bishal-5' and 17' and Nehal Ahmed-13)
  
• Monday, April 25, 2011, 8.30 am: CRPF School, Rohini, Delhi 0 Vs St. Joseph BHH School, Calicut 1 (Amalraj-6)
  
• Monday, April 25, 2011, 9.30 am: Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai 3 (Merric Fernandes-12' and 32' and Karan Raval 41') Vs Infant Jesus High School, Goa 0

 

HAL to be Pune FC’s nemesis again

I-League round 23 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore seems to be an exciting encounter when Pune FC, fresh from an upset win against Kingfisher East Bengal runs across their nemesis for this season, HAL.

Fresh from their winning exploits at home, Pune FC meet HAL who perennially turns out to be their bogey team. So, when the two meet in tomorrow’s I-League encounter at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, the one thing HAL will hope is to continue the trend.

Having met each other four times, the Bangalore-side holds a 3-1 win-loss advantage that hands them the psychological edge on field. HAL have beaten Pune FC twice in this season, identical 1-0 at the Federation Cup and I-League Round 10 at the latter’s backyard. 

The scorer for both occasions, striker Hamza, is passing through a bad patch, he too would like take this opportunity to set the record straight.

HAL decided to practice at their ground instead of the match venue, however, could not do so due to waterlogged pitch.

HAL is currently locked in a relegation battle, they are no pushover and possess the ability to stun any opponent with an uncanny approach of scoring against the run of play and then bottling out the opposition.

Having tasted enough defeat in the past few games, HAL is well aware that any further slip-up will mean staring at relegation. They are currently placed in the 12^th spot in the standings, while PuneFC stands pretty at 7^th  with 26 points.

Pune FC team consists of a number of Bangalore representation - veteran S Venkatesh, custodian N Balaji, Lester Fernandes, and J Prasad.

HAL is keen to perform well, more so, for the departed soul of their fellow teammate, Arun Kumar. 

Fixture of Mahindra Youth Football Challenge finals

The final round of the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge kicks off on Monday, April 25 at the B G S International Residential School. The matches will be played on a round-robin basis and the top two teams will qualify for the grand finale, which will be played at Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Saturday, April 30, 3.30 pm.

All the matches will played for 50 minutes, 25 minutes each half, with 10 minutes of lemon break.

1. Monday, April 25, 2011, 7.30 am: Government Sports High School, Bangalore Vs Sukanta Nagar Vidyaniketan, Kolkata
2. Monday, April 25, 2011, 8.30 am: CRPF School, Rohini, Delhi Vs St. Joseph BHH School, Calicut
3. Monday, April 25, 2011, 9.30 am: Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai Vs Infant Jesus High School, Goa
4. Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 7.30 am: Government Sports High School, Bangalore Vs CRPF School, Rohini, Delhi  
5. Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 8.30 am: Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai Vs Sukanta Nagar Vidyaniketan, Kolkata
6. Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 9.30 am: St. Joseph BHH School, Calicut Vs Infant Jesus High School, Goa
7. Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 7.30 am:  Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai Vs CRPF School, Rohini, Delhi
8. Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 8.30 am: Government Sports High School, Bangalore Vs St. Joseph BHH School, Calicut
9. Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 9.30 am: Sukanta Nagar Vidyaniketan, Kolkata Vs Infant Jesus High School, Goa
10. Thursday, April 28, 2011, 7.30 am: St. Joseph BHH School, Calicut Vs Sukanta Nagar Vidyaniketan, Kolkata
11. Thursday, April 28, 2011, 8.30 am: CRPF School, Rohini, Delhi Vs Infant Jesus High School, Goa
12. Thursday, April 28, 2011, 9.30 am: Government Sports High School, Bangalore Vs Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai
13. Friday, April 29, 2011, 7.30 am: Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai Vs St. Joseph BHH School, Calicut
14. Friday, April 29, 2011, 8.30 am: Sukanta Nagar Vidyaniketan, Kolkata Vs CRPF School, Rohini, Delhi
15. Friday, April 29, 2011, 9.30 am: Government Sports High School, Bangalore Vs Infant Jesus High School, Goa

Final - Sree Kanteerava Stadium: Saturday, April 30, 2011, 3.30 pm

 

Under-19 I-League

HAL rookies are grouped in Group D of the initial phase of Under-19 I-League. Classification round of the Under-19 I-League will be held on 4 different venues from April 26 thru May 6. 

 

The groups are primarily classified on zone. 

• Group A consists of 4 Goan teams, Dempo, Churchill Brothers, Salgaocar, and Sporting Clube de Goa and the matches will be played in Goa. 
• Group B consists of Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Chirag United, and Shillong Lajong Football Club and the matches will be played in Kolkata. 
• Group C consists of 4 teams from Maharastra, ONGC, Air India, Mumbai FC, and Pune FC and the matches will be played in Mumbai.
• Group D consists of HAL, JCT, Viva Kerala and the matches will be played in Punjab.

Group D Fixtures

• JCT 2 (Seimenien Doungel-15' and 80') vs Viva Kerala 0, April 26, 2011
• HAL 3 (Raj Kiran 26' and 54' and Mohan K 90'+2') vs Viva Kerala 1 (Abhishek-77'), April 28, 2011
• HAL vs JCT, April 30, 2011

HAL stumbles yet again at home

Goal number 2
Soccor the scorer, worthy name!
Dismayed Malem.

Bad patch simply tends to bid adieu to HAL. After showing glimpses of revival in the first half, the hosts faltered again as Air India handed over a solid 3-1 defeat to the Aircraftmen.  

Okorogor Praise, Nigerian striker, opened the account in the 39^th minute. After changing ends, Soccor Velho (65^th minute)and Okorogor Praise (69^th minute) increased the margin. Finally, R C Prakash reduced one for HAL through a penalty in the 90^th minute of the match.

With this loss, HAL slips down one more notch at 12 at the expense of their today’s opponents Air India, who are at the 11^th position with a better goal-difference. 

With ONGC’s win today, 6 points are separating 7 bottom-half teams. HAL needed some points under their belt in today’s encounter, however, they were beaten thumbs down, especially in the second-half, when the Airmen scored two more goals and sealed the fate for the Aircraftmen.

An early free-kick by Air India

HAL takes on Pune FC in the next round, Sunday, April 24. In the final 3 rounds they will be playing against the likes of Dempo, Churchill Brothers, and East Bengal.

Xavier's run from the right flank

Must win for HAL

Before desperation time gets set, you need survive, and for that must to go all out and conquer. This should be the mantra for Aircraftmen, especially after getting thrashed by the low-ranked (then) teams. 

Manjit Singh scored in Air India's
upset win against Salgaonkar 

In a battle of survival among the Public Sector teams, HAL lock horns with Air India tomorrow, Sunday, April 17, at Sree Kanteerava Stadium. 

The teams are now separated by three points. The earlier game, home match for Air India, resulted in 1-1 draw. 

Air India has won two matches in last 4 rounds, whereas HAL has managed only one draw in same number of matches. In the in flop side, the later was handed with two big-margin defeats (4-0) in last two matches.

Thanks to some ill-timed players’ injury, suspension, and enough quality reserves, nothing seems to be working for HAL in recent past. 

Cool down session for HAL the Kanteerava Stadium

The downfall just started when everyone thought HAL has survived relegation scare. Meanwhile, the teams lying beneath them in the points table suddenly picked up and started causing upset by beating stronger teams. As a result, the survival fight among the bottom-placed teams is got more exciting.

Air India warms-up at the Kanteerava Stadium

After Viva Kerala defeating Mumbai FC, HAL is in 11^th spot and Air India in 13. A win and Air India catches HAL. 

In the last three rounds, HAL will be playing against the top three teams, Dempo, Churchill Brothers, and East Bengal. So, must win situation for HAL, not only in tomorrow’s match but also the next match, against PuneFC, to be played next week.