South United beat Fateh Hyderabad, register first win in second division

South United Media 

A cagey game saw both sides put on a disciplined performance, which South United FC (SUFC) did just enough to walk away with a narrow win in the end. While most of Fateh Hyderabad's attacking threat early in came through long throws, SUFC were reliant on some great wing play. However, both teams put on a stellar defensive show for most of the game and only saw themselves lose shape towards the end.

SUFC channeled most of their attacks on the left flank through Aaron and Sudipta. They were involved in the best chance of the first half as they created a great opportunity for Rungsing, whose composure let him down in front of goal.

The stand out performance of the half came from defender Amit Tudu who was at the end of every cross and made a number of important blocks to keep his side in the game.

The second half started in the same vein as the first, with time however, both sides began to venture forward much more.

This saw FHAFC press high up the pitch and win the ball in dangerous areas. On one such occasion they came within a hair's breadth of getting the lead but Jayanth's superb reactions kept them in the game.

Only a few minutes later, Aaron was released down the right, he did well to beat his man and roll the ball into Jotin Singh's path and he made no mistake from a few yards out.

The visiting side pushed hard in the remaining 20 minutes to pull level, but despite coming close on a couple of occasions, SUFC held out to clinch the win.

ASC suffer their second successive defeat

In the Super Division match played at the Bangalore Football Stadium, last year’s Super Division champion, ASC, faltered yet again by going down to South United 2-3. Meanwhile, South United registered their second win from as many matches. 

South’s Solai Malai opened the account in the 26th minute after he received the ball from the left flank from Magesh and coolly placed the ball behind the net. Just two minutes later, Manivanan’s powerful shot from a thru ball from Subash gave them their second goal. The third goal for South United came in 51st minute from a header from Magesh. 

ASC struggled throughout to penetrate deep into the South United’s territory. It was only when last year’s top scorer Jotin Singh who scored one from a goal-mouth melee in the 60th minute. Deepak scored the second goal for ASC in the 71st minute. In spite several attempts, ASC failed to score the equalizer. 

Key HAL players move on

If you thought that Satish Kumar Jr. joining Mohun Bagan is the only loss for HAL, then you are completely mistaken. Attacking midfielder Jotin Singh and half-backs Bimal Minz and Ricky Joy are all set to don the colors of ONGC in this season. 

Interestingly, both the teams, ONGC and HAL have qualified from the ranks of division 2 to 1 in the I-League, and surely these dependable players from HAL impressed the ONGC bosses who were present in the Bangalore football stadium during the month of May.

After spending a fruitful season with HAL, the promising player from Manipur, Jotin Singh has already joined his new team. Garden City Soccer Stars spoke with this nippy mid-fielder when he was en route to Goa to attend a pre-seasoning camp.

 
Jotin sounded optimistic, “Always a sad feeling to leave a successful team and the friends I’ve made there. However, as a professional footballer, I’ve to look for my growth.” 



“The ONGC officials kept persuading me for some time. On the other hand, there was no response from the HAL management. They didn’t take the players into confidence, barring coach no one spoke to me. Seemed management was not serious in making a formidable side!”

“Not to forget the remuneration part, this is three-fold of what I got in HAL last season”. Quips Jotin.
 

Ditto is the case with Bimal Minz, a TFA alumni and Ricky Joy. One thing is apparent with the key players leaving HAL, team management has failed to keep the core team.

With the HAL team selection trial gathering momentum, we should be optimistic about building a competitive team. However, one can always question about the way they are working up to it.

When the rest of the I-League division 1 teams have already announced their squad and started their pre-season campaign, here we have a newly-promoted I-League division 1 team struggling to make a decent team.