Sukhi’s moments of magic send Dempo packing

The hulking figure,moving too slowly for a professional footballer,took the ball and advanced towards the Dempo SC half. It looked as he had run out of ideas and just when it seemed that the advancing Dempo defenders were going to snatch the ball away,Sukhwinder Singh summoned a thunderbolt.

The 30-year-old central midfielder,fired a stunning shot from a good 35-yards. 15 minutes later,Singh conjured up another piece of magic as a perfectly weighted pass was directed into the feet of striker James Moga who finished with aplomb in the far corner.

Singh who was making his start after a seven-month knee injury was rusty and unsure as the game kicked-off. His reluctance to track back and help out his defence seemed to rile coach Derrick Perreira who exhorted him to pay heed to his defensive duties as part of a dual central midfield pivot along with India international Arata Izumi.

Chances were a few and far for both sides and Dempo’s coach Armando Colaco seemed to be a relieved man to have escaped with just a 2-0 loss. “I played with a makeshift defence. Nicolas Borges is a midfielder and we played him in defence. There were other compulsions and I am actually happy with the way my team played.” he said.

Dempo midfielder and India international Clifford Miranda summed up his side’s failings saying,“We definitely missed a striker. Our defence and midfield were feeding the ball forward but a lack of presence has been hurting us for the past few matches,”

Pune FC had no such complaints as strike duo Moga and Boima Karpeh combined well with each other. Karpeh who scored two goals on his PFC debut on Sunday regularly worked himself into good positions and managed to harry the central defenders frequently.

Pune FC squandered a good early chance as an accurate Moga pass found Karpeh in the clear. The Australian hesitated for a fraction of a second which gave Dempo SC keeper,Lakshmikant Kattimani to come out and smother the scuffed shot.

Dempo SC almost pulled a goal back in the 79th minute when substitute Joy Ferrao flashed a header towards goal. Pune FC keeper Abhra Mondal had to execute a rather desperate lunge to get his fingertips to the ball and tap it over.

Pune FC’s defence,marshalled by Nigerian Chika Wali helped the team gain three important points and also ensured third place in the I-League standings.