Flying low, Air India make goalless exit

Mumbai side leave Durand Cup without troubling the scorers as Baldeep keeps JCT8217;s all-win record intact.

To 8216;Do or die8217; was not on the minds of either JCT or Air India on Monday. The Punjab giants were the first to make the last four of the Durand Cup, and the Mumbai team were out of the reckoning with only one point from two matches. With nothing to lose, Air India would have wanted to end their goalless run in their run-up to the I-League, but instead, made their exit from this year8217;s competition without a single strike to their name.

The numerous analysts and the 50-odd spectators present at the Ambedkar Stadium, though, couldn8217;t blame Air India8217;s defence for JCT8217;s lead. Midfielder Baldeep Singh never bothered to trouble them. Pouncing on Gurwinder Singh8217;s pass from about 20 yards off the box, he just gave it everything, and the ball, for a moment looking like a mishit, swirled into the net in the 26th minute of the second half. If goalkeeper Sharat was left clueless, the defending line of Syed Farid, H Thomte, Uttam Singh, Amritpal Singh and Bijoy Basfore could8217;ve done nothing. The long-range strike, for a few present, washed off the hype of Thoudan Singh8217;s hat-trick for Sporting Clube de Goa in the previous match against Tata Football Academy. It would make fond remembrances for being a first in this year8217;s Durand Cup and leading the Goa team into the semis, but Baldeep8217;s strike would certainly be rated among the best of the tournament so far.

While JCT8217;s goal came as a result of frustration in failing to breach AI8217;s defence, the latter began to rework a few strategic notes. Surojit Roy and Samson Singh kept overlapping from the left flank, creating numerous chances for Soccor Velho.

Missed chances

But AI8217;s No 10 failed to convert any, with the worst miss coming in the 82nd minute 8212; hardly 10 metres away from goal with only Karanjit Singh to beat, he heaved it over the bar. Getting into the shot too early was a problem then and eight minutes later, he was comprehensively outnumbered while trying to fetch Samson8217;s corner kick.

With their I-League warm-up turning on its head, AI coach Bimal Ghosh was left speculating a few changes in his strike force. 8220;We need to work on our combination. Bashiru didn8217;t perform at all, and we are looking to replace him. A few more replacements are on the cards, specially in the forward line, for the upcoming I-League,8221; Ghosh said.

With JCT resting their mainstays Eduardo da Silva, Jaspreet Singh, Julius Trabor Akpele, and still managing to keep their all-win record, coach Sukhwinder Singh was ecstatic. 8220;We didn8217;t miss any of the rested players. We didn8217;t dominate throughout, but managed to win. Carrying on the all-win record was more important.8221;

The concluding scenes at the close on Monday, though, weren8217;t pleasing as Baldeep was helped out of the field by team mates after sustaining an ankle injury. Even as the coach discarded all speculations of Baldeep missing the semi-final, the midfielder looked in pain and said he wasn8217;t sure of making the playing XI. 8220;It8217;s not a bone injury, but right now I can8217;t walk properly. I8217;m not sure about playing on Thursday,8221; he said.