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Journalism of Courage
CALCUTTA, Nov 16: Two engrossing high-scoring matches marked the second day of the semi-final league of the 103rd IFA Shield at the Salt Lake Stadium.
East Bengal and FC Kochin both won by an identical 3-2 margin over their spirited opponents. The Kochi team, with six points under their belt, are through to the final while East Bengal, with a draw and a win fetching them four points, will have to wait till Tuesday to know their fate. Of course, East Bengal will have to lose to Kochin while Sporting will have to beat Churchill Brothers to force East Bengal out of the tournament.
The Kochin-Sporting game brought to the fore the proverbial uncertainties in the game and also exposed the chinks in the Kochin defence once again. In spite both Bernard Oparanzi and Shahid Akinsaya doing duty, the Kochin defence crumbled under repeatedly pressure.
However, it was the two Vijayans who led Kochin’s charge, scoring the three goals among themselves. While IM got the first two, Raman netted the third, all of them coming before Sporting had even opened their account. That perhaps best describes the game today. Kochin dominated till the middle of the second half. After that, it was Sporting all the way. A few more minutes and the game might well have ended in a three-all draw.
Playing without Friday Elaiho, who had to sit out with two yellow cards, Kochin opened the scoring in the 21st minute when I.M. Vijayan dribbled past three defenders to score.
In the 61st minute, Carlton Chapman trapped a Shahid pass and squared for a charging I.M. Vijayan, whose header went past a lethargic Sporting custodian Arpan Dey. Raman Vijayan added the third two minutes later, again Chapman playing a crucial role. An overlapping Ranjit ran away with a Chapman through and placed a perfect pass for Raman Vijayan to tap in.
Sporting brought in Prasanta Chakraborty which proved a good move as he created the first goal and scored the second.
Chakraborty set up Arjan Ali and the latter scored without much fuss in the 84th minute. That goal pumped up Sporting as they scored five minutes later, Chakraborty netting from Ali’s pass. With seconds ticking away, Sporting’s charge had the Kochin defence on their knees in the final 10 minutes, and a couple of misses saved them from further embarrassment.
In the earlier game, it was the brilliance of Bhaichung Bhutia and the rock-solid defending by Samuel Omollo which saw East Bengal move past Churchill Brothers. Bhutia got the first two goals for his team while Deb Narayan Chaudhary got the third. Chibuzor, who once again was in very good form today, got both the goals for Churchill.
East Bengal held an upper hand throughout and might well have won by a bigger margin. However, the Churchill half of Tejinder Kumar and Aqueel Ansari combined very well to grab the initiative at crucial junctures.
Chibuzor equalised in the 30th minute, after Bhutia had put East Bengal ahead in the 21st. The game remained that way till the 66th minute when Bhutia again put his team in the lead. A little later, Chaudhary consolidated only to see Chibuzor get one back in the final minute of the game.
