Battling BMFC bounce back

Not surprisingly, Mahindras substituted their left-back Surmani Singh with Sanjay Dayal in the 23rd minute. But that did not stop Air-India8217;s bulldozing ways.

Air-India played Khambiton Singh above the three-man defence line but that was only partially successful. In the mid-field, Air-India8217;s Khalid Jamil, despite Mahindras8217;Christopher shadowing him, played a great game. His superior touch had the Mahindra defence at their wits ends. Another Air-India player who had a significant effect on the game was Godfred Pereira. With Bungo Singh being rested and coming in only as a substitute, Godfred and Jamil were the engine for Air-India8217;s vehicle. Surprisingly, Surinder Pal, scorer of five goals, looked lost in the field.

The best moment for Air-India came in the 79th minute with Godfred, exchanging a one-touch pass with Anthony Fernandes, chipped over Mahindras8217; goalkeeper Virender Singh. The ball lobbed over Virender Singh but struck the under-side of the bar and came into play.

The only player Mahindras could look up to was Virendra Singh. The goalkeeper was beaten on just a few occasions. But he never looked rattled unlike his team8217;s defence.

If the Mahindras defence did not have their sense of direction, their mid-field and forwards looked like trekkers in woods lost.Aqeel Ansari was not setting for just about anything,neither were the other mid-fielders Khalid Siddique and Satish Minz. Predictable forward Manjit Singh got frustrated with Najeeb being unable to out-sprint Air-India defence.

Air-India slipped from their perch only because BMFC won and collected 15 points from seven games. Air-India have 14 from six. Mahindras are third with nine points from five games. But both Air-India and BMFC have made sure of their berth in the top five in the second phase of the league.

ADEL TOP SCORER: There was a buzz about the BMFC camp. For the first time, their bench was fully occupied with substitutes. They could rest some of the players who did duty for the first six matches and the new comers to take their place was Tapon Ghosh and Gift Rai Khan in defence, Farouq Mohammed in mid-field and Jagjit Singh among forwards.

Coincidentally, the first two goals for BMFC came from their new players, Farouq Khan and Jagjit Singh, who scored twice. Adel also scored two goals, making him the top scorer in the WIFA league sofar with seven.

It was like Midas touch for BMFC in the first half of their clash with Central Railway. Everything they set up turned into goals with one fortitutious strike coming through a goalkeeping error.

The first goal came in the 22nd minute. From a corner, the ball rolled to Farouq who smashed in a thunderous volley. The goalscorer8217;s delight was so much that he took turns to kiss the turf.

The next one came from a Adeshina Sadiq cross, Jagjit Singh headed in with the ball trickling in. The third was a well-executed goal Farouq bolted down the right, passed to Sadiq whose8217;s centre was neatly slotted in by Adel.Adel was at hand for the next goal as Railway goalkeeper Mark Mascarenhas failed to gather the ball cleanly.

Jagjit Singh headed in the fifth goal in the 85th minute to round off the tally.

The defeat has almost ruled out Central Railway8217;s chances of qualifying for the next stage where top five teams play a separate league and the bottom five fight each other to avoidrelegation.

Top Scorers

7: Adel Ansari BMFC.
5: Surinder Pal Air-India, Abbas Ali Rizvi Mahindras.
3: Abdul Abid MSP
2: Harish Sharma Mahindras, Anil Shinde MSP, Uday Konar, Adeshina Sadiq BMFC, Govindan Sajju RCF; Surinder Tigga Air-India, Satish ME BoI, Ryan D8217;Souza UBI, Jagjit Singh BMFC.