Army win shootout and trophy

It was not the most entertaining football but Army XI stuck to their strength to lift the Durand Cup beating a much-fancied Sporting Clube d...

It was not the most entertaining football but Army XI stuck to their strength to lift the Durand Cup beating a much-fancied Sporting Clube de Goa 5-4 in shoot out here today. This was the first time an Army XI won the trophy after the Gorkha Regiment had won it in 1969.

Striker Ramachander, Thirunavukarasu, Ramesh, Binod Bantava and Raghu Kumar scored for the Army, while Chidi Edeh, Nicholas Rodregues, Rajesh Metei and Hardeep Saini found the net for the Goans, after 120 minutes of fruitless game.

The biggest disappointment was Goan skipper Macpheien Dudu missing the final strike. A forlorn Dudu, shaking his head in disbelief, said: ‘‘It was one of those moments.’’

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Apart from putting their plans to Army precision, coach Stanly Rozario’s master stroke of replacing Robi Kanta Singh with Abungobi, a specialist for the shootout, paid off really well. The win was worth Rs 5 lakh.

Sporting Club, despite playing an attacking game, could not pierce through the Army defence.

All their attempts at rival goal was thwarted by Kanta Singh, who did an admirable job under the bar.

Sporting playmaker Bebiano Fernandes, who was a livewire in the first half, seemed to have switched himself off in the second. This cost them dear in the final analysis.

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