City club records 3-0 win over Secunderabad side to enter Durand Cup main draw for the first time since 1988 The AOC Secunderabad striker is past all defenders and just has to bunt the ball past custodian Pretam Singh of Delhi's Garhwal Heroes. All he manages to find is the knees of the goal-keeper. It is an action that plays itself out over and over in the match. As the referee blows the full time whistle at the Ambedkar Stadium,AOC have missed their chances while Garhwal have converted theirs to win 3-0 in the final match of the qualifying rounds of the Durand cup and moved into the main draw. "There's no doubt that luck was with us. I'm not complaining,but what else can you call it," grins an elated septuagenarian SK Negi,a Garhwal Heroes supporter and former player,now cheering in the stands. Indeed Garhwal were never even supposed to be playing in the Durand Cup qualification rounds. Only the top-four teams of Delhi's Senior Division were supposed to feature and Garhwal only played because the others pulled out. Their fortuitous run continued as the the 62-year-old club got a bye in their first match of the qualifiers against BSF. They then won their match against Amity FC and then lost the next match in a tie-breaker against the Indian Air Force on October 24. With the qualification rounds being of the knock out sort,Garhwal were out. However,as luck would have it later that evening came the news that Dempo FC of Goa,who had already been seeded in the main draw,had opted out of the tournament. A match between the two-top losers in the qualifying rounds was held and the Garhwal made the most of their fortune to go through. The last time Garhwal Heroes made it into the main draw of the Durand Cup was in 1988 when current coach Ravi Rana was in the playing XI. Rana though says Garhwal have had their share of misfortune as well. "It's not like we have had all the luck. We are at the start of our playing season and we have entered the Durand Cup almost without practice. Some of our top local players are missing as well. We had even hired two Nigerian players for the Durand but they backed out in the last minute after asking for extra money." Garhwal will need a lot more luck if they want to keep advancing. They will be up against I-League giants Sporting Clube de Goa on October 28. "They play at an entirely different level. We will try to deny them goals and then work on counter-attacks. But it will be tough. So we will be going into the game with fingers crossed," says Rana with a wry smile. The match itself got off to a lively start. Garhwal Heroes' players,who had just played a match involving added time the previous day,showed no sign of fatigue. While AOC kept attacking,Garhwal's keeper Pradeep was up to the task. Disaster struck Garhwal when in a sliding tackle in the 35th minute,Pradeep injured his knee and had to be stretchered off. His replacement was Pretam Singh,who proved incredibly shaky and it was difficult to make out who was more nervous - Pretam under the crossbar or coach Rana in the dug-out. It was only poor finishing on the part of AOC and some desperate defending from Garhwal that kept the score 0-0 at halftime. The second-half saw Garhwal take the lead early on,thanks to a header from Kamal Rawat in the 47th minute. Having taken the lead,Garhwal were able to work through counter-attacks and they added a goal in the 76th minute through Kulbhushan. When Shailendra Negi punched in a low volley in the second minute of extra-time,the outcome was sealed.
