Roots, Gokulam share hornors in Stafford Cup, MEG and Dempo game too ends in stalemate

KSFA Media 

The Stafford Challenge Cup kicked off again after 30 years with both games ending in a draw at the Bangalore Football Stadium.

In the inaugural game, Group B's Roots FC of Bengaluru took the lead but were held to 1-1  draw by Gokulam FC, Kerala . In Group A, local challengers MEG went ahead only for Dempo SC, Goa, to equalize in the second half. 

The newly formed Roots FC were a revelation. They played an attacking brand of football and stretched their opponents on both flanks with some astute crosses. The wingers responded well and provided many harrowing moments to the Gokulam defence, but lack of finishing prevented them from scoring in the first half. They were once out of luck when Vignesh’s powerful long ranger hit the post while the goalkeeper was out of position. 

Roots began with a bang in the second half with Vignesh missing an open chance - he placed the ball over the cross bar while aiming the ball into the empty net. However, they forged ahead in the 64th minute when Yohan Victor Britto bulged the net from inside the 6-yard box from the right side.

They fell back on defence as Gokulam came back with some spirited moves to restore parity. They exerted pressure and their efforts bore fruit in the 87th minute when they were awarded a penalty. Roots defence Mohan Bahadur handled the ball inside the area and Referee Anil Gulia pointed to the spot. Substitute Samuel Mensah Konney made no mistake placing it home. 

The two teams then closed shop and were content to go home with a point each.

MEG held by Dempo 

Madras Engineer Group & Centre, Bengaluru, were held to a 1-1 draw by Dempo SC, Goa in the second match of the day. The Sappers were a dominant for most part of the game against the young Dempo side.

They did well to take the lead as well in the 16th minute when their tall stopper Ayush headed home a lob from Imnaakum. They stretched the flanks wide and had more of the ball but did not succeed in extending the lead. MEG also played wide apart and looked a rather tired lot in the second half.

Sensing their chance, Dempo indulged in their short passing game and built several moves. The through passes were struck a bit long and hard. Yet, they managed to come more into the attacking picture. A pile-driver from Shreyash Gajanan Naik was put out at the last minute by MEG goalkeeper Pramod Joshi as he dived low to his right. A lob from Adnold Antonio saw Topon Minj hit wide from close range.

Dempo restored parity in the 86th minute when Arnold’s lob was headed across the goal by Topon and Shreyash Gajanan managed to scramble it home after a goalmouth melee. For the equaliser. There was not much time left for any team to go for the winner and they went home with a point each.

 

Bengaluru beat Dempo in U16 Youth League, through to final round

Bengaluru FC Media 

Goals on either side of the break from Amay Morajkar and Lalrintluanga Chawnglut gave Bengaluru FC U16s a 2-0 win over Dempo and qualification to the final rounds of the U16 Y-League at the Duler Stadium, in Goa, on Wednesday. Needing just a point to progress, the Blue colts refused to leave things to chance with solid performance that saw them finish atop the Rest of India, Zone-1 standings with three wins in as many games.

The opening goal came in the 11th minute when Saqlain Khan was brought down at the edge of the penalty area. Amay’s perfectly placed free-kick beat the wall and went past the reach of the Dempo ’keeper, giving BFC the lead. 

John Kila made just one change to the BFC side that had won against Sporting Clube de Goa on Monday with the suspended Nonganba Singh replaced by Lalrintluanga. The midfielder’s through pass come closest to doubling the lead but for Lalrinzuala Lalbiaklana, whose shot could only rattle the Dempo woodwork. 

Refusing to sit back, the Blue Colts continued to dominate proceedings and twenty minutes into the second half, a strike from 30 yards saw Lalrintluanga double BFC’s lead. 

“I am very happy with the performance of these boys. We’ve had little time to prepare but they’ve gelled well together and the results are there for all to see. We are excited to have made it through to the final round but it’s going to be tougher and there’s a lot of work to be done,” said Kila following the game. 

The Blues wrapped up their group commitments in dominating fashion scoring ten times and conceding just once and Kila lays it down to discipline. “We trained these young boys on the pitch and in the gym, giving them a mentality to win football matches. It was a balanced effort from defending well at the back and attacking with discipline and we hope we can do the same in the final rounds.” 

The final rounds of the U16 Y-League are scheduled to begin in January.

Bengaluru FC colts beat Sporting in U16 Youth League

Bengaluru FC Media

A strong display of attacking football from Bengaluru FC’s U16 Academy side saw them go top of the charts in the U16 Y-League with a 4-0 win over Sporting Clube de Goa at the Duler Stadium, in Goa, on Monday. Following up on their victory over Salgaocar in the opening match on Sunday, the Blue Colts have now scored eight goals and conceded just one in the Rest of India, Zone-I group.

The young Blues attacked from the word go with Rahul Rajan having a go in the opening minutes, followed by tries from Lalrinzuala Lalbiaklana and Nonganba Singh. Rahul made it two goals from as many games when Lalrinzuala’s square pass found him unmarked in the area to slot home the opener in as early as the 9th minute.

The John Kila-coached side went in at the break having doubled their advantage with midfielder Amay Morajkar’s perfectly placed strike finding the top corner from over 25 yards. 

Rahul turned provider as a reverse of the first goal allowed the 16-year-old to grab his third assist of the group stages, setting up Lalrinzuala for the Blue Colts’ third on the day. Winger Nonganba made it 4-0 with a neat finish in the 64th minute, only to receive his marching orders for a second bookable offense moments later.

The Blue Colts will face Dempo SC U16s needing just a point to qualify to the final rounds from the Rest of India Zone-I, at the same venue on Wednesday.

Difficult to think of a top league without top I-League teams: Sunando Dhar

CEO of I-League appeared unfazed about Sporting Clube de Goa’s exit and termed it as unfortunate. Dhar was present at the Garden City today inaugurating the Parikrama Champions League at the Bangalore Football Stadium. He added, “We were talking to everyone about the restructuring of Indian football. Nothing was finalized and everyone was kept in the loop. But Sporting didn’t want to wait that long.”

Apparently, few new teams have shown interest to be part of the I-League and now that the deadline has been extended, AIFF is confident of getting more bids. 

Interestingly while the Goan fans have shunned I-League in past few seasons, ISL is running packed houses. If they had the kind of fan base that an East Bengal or a Mohun Bagan or a Bengaluru FC has today, they couldn’t have pulled out of the league. The fans wouldn’t allow them to do so. Unfortunately that kind of fan base is missing in Goa. 

The fans have increased in Bengaluru, the North East, in Kolkata, and also in other places barring Goa.

On the ISL merger, in which a team per state was an ISL plan, however, for a National League, the best teams should play. In the history and fans, there isn’t a better team that Mohun Bagan or East Bengal in India. 

Dhar sounded confident about the presence of the Kolkata giants, “Don’t think there is anyone looking at a top league without Bagan or East Bengal. The discussions are going on and we hope to reach a conclusion. Not to forget Bengaluru FC, who has been the best team in last three years and it is difficult to think of a top league without the top team.” 

Uncertainties, death, and the beautiful game - Cristiano Júnior

Júnior’s death on the field during Federation Cup 2004 final at Kanteerava Stadium exactly a decade back blatantly highlighted the lack of facilities in Indian football and uncertainties in the beautiful game.  

Here’s Bangalore Football remembering Cristiano Júnior, let there be no Júnior-type incident in future!  

[VIDEO] Post-match Press Conference - Bengaluru FC Vs Dempo SC

Arthur Papas - Dempo SC 

Ashley Westwood - Bengaluru FC 

[PICS] Bengaluru FC Vs Dempo I-League, 2013-14

Goal no. 1 that came from your Siam

Goal two and marching ahead

Admiring beauty

Gaffer any day!

Chhetri get past Samir naik

This was another gem from Rooney, scored, almost!

Creative medio Beto too had a bad day

 That's game, set, and match!

And that's the third one...

Gaffers intense look says it all

Surprise-surprise, he might demand a closed-door I-League match, you never know

Bengaluru FC remain unbeaten, stay on top of I-League table

“You can’t go down 2-0 within first 10 minutes, and then win the game!” Dempo coach Arthur Papas’ post-match view perhaps summarizes the match. 

Bengaluru’s Manipuri striker, Siam Hangal, who was adjudged the Man of the Match, opened the scoring for the hosts in the sixth minute with a superb volley from outside the box that beat a diving Dempo goalkeeper Subhashish Roy Chowdhury all ends up. 

A brace by Australian striker Sean Rooney helped Bengaluru FC beat Dempo Sports Club 3-1 in their Airtel I-League encounter at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Wednesday. 

With this win Bengaluru FC maintained their unbeaten record at home as they went to the top of the table with 13 points from five matches. 

On the other hand, the Goan side lost their second match in the league and are struck on six points from as many matches. 

Sean Rooney scored the second goal the 11th minute. Sunil Chhetri entered the box from the left flank and his right rooter was punched out by Subhashish only to find Rooney lurking at the edge of the box. Rooney made no mistake in placing the ball into the far corner of the net. 

Rooney scored his second goal of the match in the 61st minute to take his tournament tally to five goals when he made a run through the centre after receiving the ball from Darren Caldeira. 

With only the goalkeeper to beat, Rooney made no mistake as he slid the ball past Subhashish to make it 3-0 for the hosts. 

Two minutes later, the visitors pulled one back, when Miranda’s curling left footer from a free kick beat the entire defence. 

After getting one goal back, the visitors piled on the pressure in the Bengaluru half but some brilliant defending by John Johnson and Curtis Osano ensured that the visitors didn’t reduce the margin further. 

[LIVE] Airtel I-League 2013-14 - Bengaluru FC Vs Dempo

Airtel I-League 2013-14
Round 5  Wednesday, October 23, 2013  Bangalore Football Stadium Kick-off: 3.30 pm
Scorer:  Siam-6', Rooney-11' 61'	3	-	1	Scorer: Clifford Miranda-63
Bengaluru FC: Pawan Kumar; Kurtis Osano, John Johnson, Rino Anto, Keegan Perriera; Darren, John Menyongar, Siam Hangal; Beikhokhei, Sean Rooney, Sunil Chhetri Sub: NS Manju, Vishal Kumar, Malemnganba, Robin Singh, Thoi Singh, Karam Sawhney, Bruno Colaco
Dempo Sports Club: Subhasish; Debabrata Roy, Honda, Simon Colosimo, Samir Naik, Peter Carvallo, Jewel Raja, Clifford Miranda, Beto, Jeje, Billy Mehmet Sub: Laxmikant Kattimani, Shallun Pires, Romeo, Mandar, Godwin Franco, Joy Ferrao, Dom Sahil Tavora
LIVE UPDATES
90+4' ref blows the long whistle, another satisfying win for the host 90+3' final sub for BFC - Sam OUT Thoi Singh IN 90' 4 mins of time added 87' One more corner for Dempo, header did very little damage to BFC  84.50' Corner cleared by Pawan Kumar  84' Dempo earns a corner, Romeo's run, halted by Keegan.  79' Double substitution for Dempo, Joy IN Jewel Raja OUT | Mandar IN Clifford OUT  77' Coach of our Senior National team, Wim Koovermans is right here, watching the proceedings 71' Double substitution for BFC, Robin IN Sean Rooney OUT | Malemn IN Beikho OUT 63' Dempo pulls back one from a Clifford freekick  61' One more for BFC, and Rooney's second!  46' second half resumes  45+2 - half time... 45' two mins added 43' corner for Dempo again, no harm caused to BFC 39' and this time a freekick being wasted. The deadball of experts Dempo are having a bad game. Clifford totally offcolor today 37' Dempo waste a corner   36' Rooney miss an easy chance, John Menyongar tapped the ball with great anticipation and  passed to Rooney, takes a loose shot. 34' Clifford's nasty challenge to John Johnson, earns a yellow card. first booking of the match.   33' a mini clash between Beto and Pawan Kumar inside the box, the later was lying on the ground.   32' Still a comfortable 2-0 lead. Dempo still could not recuperate from those early goals   29' Could not repeat the Beikho-John Johnson goal from a corner. The later was thoroughly marked by Dempo defense 28'  Beikho forces a corner   27' Freekick for BFC from the left flank, Johnny to take. 24' the team from Goa is trying to play a holding game 23.31' regrouping phase for Dempo22' With those two quick strikes, it is all BFC at the moment.  18' misspass galore, everywhere - from midfield to Defense. Dempo having a torrid time!  11' And one more, Australian Rooney. as if one was not enough. 2-0! 6' Goal, early inroad and an exciting longranger from Manupuri Siam Hangal 1-0! 2' wayward shot, wasted. 1.50' freekick for Dempo, Clifford to take.  0.01' Match kicks off, Dempo attacking from left to right.  Hello folks, R-5 of Airtel I-League and BFC Vs Dempo this time, GCSStars.com will go live from 3.15 pm!

Upbeat Dempo meets unbeaten Bengaluru FC

AIFF press release 

Bengaluru FC will look to continue with their good run at home as they take on Dempo Sports Club of Goa in their Airtel I-League encounter at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Wednesday. With just one win from five outings so far, former champions Dempo have managed to gather their much-needed confidence after a thumping win against East Bengal in the last match. 
The hosts meanwhile are unbeaten so far in the four matches they have played this season.

However, the Goan outfit, presently seventh on the league table, will be wary of their opponents, who are one of the three unbeaten teams in the league and are presently second on the points table. 

Bengaluru FC, who have played all their matches at home so far, will once again be looking forward for another impressive performance from their English defender John Johnson. Johnson, who was the man of the match in the last three matches, has stood like a wall at the back and the Dempo forwards will have a tough time getting the ball past him. On the other hand, the Dempo defenders will also need to keep an eye on Johnson, as he has scored three goals for his team and all of them have come from corners. 

Upfront, Bengaluru’s Aussie striker Sean Rooney has managed to make life tough for opposition defenders and he, along with Sunil Chhetri will be hoping to do the same on Wednesday also. 

But Coach Ashley Westwood has admitted that he will be a bit cautious against Dempo. “Our team is in good spirits but Dempo are a good side. I saw their last game on TV. They have one of the best squads in the league. They’re certainly going to provide us with a big test,” said Westwood. 

On the other hand, having tasted success at last against East Bengal, Arthur Papas’ boys will be looking for another away victory. Under pressure after failing to pocket three points from their four matches, Dempo had put up a clinical performance on Saturday against the Kolkata outfit. 

“It’s always nice to come back to winning ways. We were always confident but it was just a matter of time before we started clicking as a team,” said Clifford Miranda, who scored Dempo’s opening goal against East Bengal.

While Beto and Miranda scored for the Goans in that match, Irishman Billy Mehmet impressed all with his runs down the flanks. These three players will once again have to play a key role, if Dempo wants to stop Bengaluru’s impressive run in the league so far. 

Miranda admitted that Bengaluru FC will have the advantage, but at the same time they too have a plan in place for the hosts. “They’ve played four home games and that gives them an advantage. Any team that plays these many home games in one stretch has an advantage,” said Miranda. “Set pieces have been their strength. We’ve worked on it but it only takes one moment to get it wrong,” he added. 

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.