Central races to fourth win

Young Sports did not lag far behind as the score suggests. They came out well from their defence during several of their stray raids. But poor cohesion between their forwards saw them come out a cropper when it mattered most.

Striker Manju Bagade came by two chances. He first shot over the crosspiece when ideally placed in the first-half and his second attempt, a top-of-the-circle drive, was saved by Central goalkeeper Manish Gaur who padded the ball out of play.

Central were off to a good start when they scored in the fourth minute. Haseebuddin found the mark after a fine pass by Jamsher following a penalty corner.

Thereafter, Young Sports defended in numbers and the Central attack did the mistake of concentrating their attacks down the middle. This simplified the task of the Young Sports defenders in containing them. Central made it 2-0 with a raid from the right flank between inside-right Rishi Patel and right-winger Amrik Singh. The two were concerned in a fine passing bout before Patel beat goalkeeper Sudhir Singh with an angular shot upon entering the circle.

Central put the issue beyond doubt when they struck a third time in the 43rd minute. Arif Baig scored after goalkeeper Sudhir had blocked a penalty-corner drive by Haseebuddin. Anken Bhagwat rounded-off the Central tally — their fourth win in seven matches, with two defeats and one draw — after being put through by Jamsher.

Other results: Division II: IIT, Mumbai 1 (Amit Agarwal) drew Rebels Sports Club 1 (Melroy Marquis). Division IV: Independent 9 (Neil Miranda 4, Jayesh Jadhav, Jimmy Joe D’Abreo, Dennis Saldanha, Julius D’Souza, Afroz Choudhary) bt Brothers Sports Club 0; Golden 20 9 (Carlton D’Souza 3, Jayesh Chaves 2, Rakesh Bhaduria, Michael Rapoza, Delano D’Souza, Elias D’Silva) bt Scottish XI 0.