Deepak sparks Bombay win

In the third minute of extra-time, Edward Aranha, who missed the earlier matches due to an injury, latched on to a through pass, dodged a defender and dribbled along the backline before finding Kishore Kumar in the goalmouth with his accurate backpass. With only custodian Brian D’Souza to beat, Kishore failed to get his act together and fumbled. Later, D’Souza, was in the thick of action once again, palming away Rajesh Chouhan’s shot.

Immediately, Bombay initiated a counter attack which produced the golden goal in the 11th minute with Air-India defence completely off guard.Sabu Varkey shot into the D from the left flank and when Air-India goalkeeper PU Bopanna fumbled, Deepak found an opportunity to tap home the winner.

Earlier, Bombay hoisted the lead in the fifth minute through an indirect set-piece sequence. Chander Pal’s direct hit went off custodian’s pads and Air-India defender Len Aiyappa’s clearance came as far as MK Prakash, who banged into the boards. However, the lead was shortlived with Air-India restoring parity three minutes later through Darryl D’Souza, who neatly deflected Gavin Ferreira’s free hit which came in via Chouhan.

Bombay skipper Sabu Varkey put his side ahead once again in the 24th minute making the best use of a cross from Shanta Kumar and nine minutes after crossover, Deepak increased the margin with a gem. With the Air-India defenders no where in the scene, Deepak darted into the striking circle and made a diving deflection to bring to fruition a long cross from Sunil Pereira after Air-India custodian Bopanna’s faulty clearance.

Despite theirattacking game, the poor defence did Air-India in while Bombay’s goalkeeper D’Souza displayed good form under the bar. In the first semifinal, Dhanraj Pillay put his team ahead with his characteristic style in the 32nd minute. Put in control by Hasrat Qureshi, he side-stepped an onrushing custodian Alex David and flicked into the net.

TN’s efforts bore fruit in the 50th minute when skipper Rathakrishnan scored from a penalty corner. Within four minutes of the equaliser, Seniors shot ahead once again with an indirect short-corner conversion by Baljit Singh Chandi.

Later, the TN goal survived a close call when umpire VB Singh blew for dangerous play by the Seniors but signalled a goal when Hasrat Qureshi tapped in. The TN players mobbed him and the umpire reversed the decision and awarded a short corner to the Indian probables.