East Bengal arrest sliding fortunes

FC Kochin shot into the lead in the 30th minute of the opening session when Ancheri’s curling freekick found the target much to the surprise of the East Bengal custodian Prasanta Dora.

It was a spectacular goal as his booming left footer swung suddenly as it flew over the `wall’ and the goalkeeper, who seemed to be unsighted, could do very little to block the ball.

But East Bengal found the equaliser five minutes later, Willy Brown scoring after the hard-working Bijen Singh did the spadework by breaking through the defence from the right flank.

The local outfit forged ahead towards thedying stages of the first half as Brown found the target again, after a counterattack which saw Opoku pierce the defence with a sudden burst of speed and unleash a crisp grounder towards the goal. FC Kochin custodian Sunday Sears could not collect the ball and the deflection went towards Brown who tapped the ball in without much fuss. The Kerala outfit restored parity just at the stroke of interval, striker Ishaq capitalising on a defensive lapse.

SBT worsen Dempo woes

MARGAO: State Bank of Travancore registered their fourth victory prevailing over Goa’s Dempo Sports Club 1-0 at Nehru Stadium here on Friday. The all-important goal came in the 31st minute of the first half through striker Ignatious Sylvester. VP Saji unleashed a powerpacked shot that crushed into the frame work and rebounded to an unmarked Ignatious, who made no mistake.

Goalkeepers make hay

BANGALORE: Ultimately, what mattered was that one team made as many mistakes as the other. As referee Gopinath Pyne blew the longwhistle, only two players seemed to emerge worthy of National Football League quality goalkeepers Balaji of Indian Telephone Industries and Bibhas Saha of Border Security Force. Ninety-odd minutes of the most average fare later, ITI and BSF recorded a goalless draw. But what will be missing from the score-card is, but for Balaji and Saha, there may have been a spate of goals.

Tomorrow: Tollygunge vs Mohun Bagan in Calcutta.