Central Railway send BMFC to first defeat

Snatching the ball from three BMFC defenders, Ansari lobbed over the charging BMFC goalkeeper Gumpe Rime. After some anxious initial moments against BMFC, the railwaymen had their first chance when striker Asif Jamal’s thundering right foot hit the bar and went out.

The BMFC strikers were guilty of squandering some easy chances and also of holding the ball too long in the box.

The first scoring opportunity for BMFC came in the 27th minute when Abdul Khalique’s header went inches away from the left post. The move was initiated on defender Manjinder Singh’s throw which found medio James Singh on thegoaline. James flicked the ball over the railway defenders for Khalique on the goal-mouth.

Besides missing the scoring chances, luck was also not in the favour of the city’s first professional club. In the 65th minute, overlapping defender Manjinder curled a cross for striker Herbert Philip who headed back, setting the ball for fellow striker Kasif Jamal. Dodging two defenders, Kasif made some space for his shot. But he was unfortunate as his shot, after touching the bar, came back into play.

The desperate BMFC coach Jamshed Nassiri brought in three substitutes — Tausif Jamal, Nazir Mohammad and Uday Konar. But it was too late for BMFC who started the season with a impressive performance against Mahindras.Central Railway coach C Vaz said, "We played according to plan and controlled the game in the mid-field. Defender Prakash Fernandes and Arif Ansari were brilliant on the field."

Nassiri lamented that his strikers missed the openings.

ONGC win

ONGC entered the quarter-final of Air-IndiaTrophy organised by MDFA with a 4-3 win in a tie-breaker over last year’s runner-up Naval Dockyard at St Xavier’s Ground Parel. At full-time, both teams were equal at one goal each.

ONGC took lead in the 16th minute through Govindan Tendel. But four minutes later, Naval Dockyard got the equaliser through Lance Mendonca. But in the tie-breaker goalkeeper Sandeep Sawant saved the day for ONGC with two brilliant saves.