IAF,Army advance in Durand

The lined-up players testified their training experience by saluting the visiting officer,giving their senior all the more reason to felicitate the side with a 5-1 win over Ahbab,which helped them qualify for the 123rd edition of the Durand Cup.

It wasn’t curtains for the losing side either,as they got a backdoor entry into the tournament,after top clubs such as Hindustan FC and Gorkha Heroes withdrew their teams. Having finished as the losing semi-finalist in the Senior Division league,a lucky break got them into India’s premier club tournament.

Ahbab were pushed onto the backfoot by an experienced and tough opponent in IAF. They conceded the first goal within first ten minutes when GS Sandhu found the net from a rolling cross. The floodgates had opened and the side never really recovered from the early goal as they were soon down by two when IAF’s R Thapliyal made them suffer with his sheer consistency. The scoreboard continued to tick two minutes later as IAF drilled their third past Ahbab’s dismal defence through Manish Negi and a fourth by TTS Satepathen,just before half-time.

The energy sips didn’t do much for Ahbab since they entirely lost ball possession in the second half. Although they pulled one back in the 54th minute,the entire half was dominated by IAF who scored the fifth and last goal in the 71st minute. LB Victor’s 25 yard screamer crashed against the back of the net,before the frozen Ahbab custodian could even move. It wasn’t the best couple of days for Delhi’s clubs as Indian Nationals had endured a similar result on Sunday,and unlike Abhab,they bowed out of the tournament. Meanwhile,Army Green beat Assam Rifles 2-1 in the second fixture of the day. The match started at an even pace but Army Green clinched the ball possession and were seen infiltrating the Assam Rifles territory. Credit goes to Assam Rifles custodian Lokeshwar Singh who dived a lot initially to parry off some curling shots of Army Greens.

Following Army’s Arjun Tudu opening goal in the fourth minute,Dhanji Singh doubled the lead and the intensity of pressure over Rifles in the 41st.

Assam Rifles were much better in the second half,controlling the possession and tone of the game. Bulu Jigdung opened Rifles’s account with a sizzling strike in the 61st minute to keep his team in the match. But his efforts could not materialise since Greens strengthened their defence and thwarted Assam Rifles.

Within the sight of victory,Army Greens was once again seen in an all out attack. Tudu nearly doubled his tally when a fearsome strike wizzed past the crossbar in the dying minutes of the encounter. It did not go in,but Tudu had ensured that Rifles had ended up on the losing side.