Lucky Mahindras scrape through

It has been a virtual cakewalk for most of the top clubs at the ongoing Osian8217;s Durand Cup football tournament so far.

It has been a virtual cakewalk for most of the top clubs at the ongoing Osian8217;s Durand Cup football tournament so far. And former NFL champions Mahindra United had no reasons to think otherwise when they took to the field for their pre-quarter final tie against Border Security Force here at Dr Ambedkar stadium today.

Mahindra coach Derrick Pereira was so assured of his team8217;s easy run that he did not even feel the need to field his national team star cast that included Nehru Cup hero N P Pradeep, Steven Dias and K Ajayan.

But the para-military outfit that has the distinction of winning India8217;s oldest football tournament seven times had other ideas. And a rusty Mahindras helped their cause to an extent.

Mahindras finally breathed a sigh of relief with what turned out to be the winning goal just two minutes before the final whistle. It was the second penalty awarded to them and this time Deepak Kr Junior, the custodian, had no answer to a blinding spot kick by Yusuf Yakubu. The relief on Pereira8217;s face said it all. 8220;It was close,8221; was all he could say later.

The Mahindra forward line was in abysmal form today. BSF could sniff an opportunity and started testing the Mumbai outfit8217;s defence that was clearly out of sorts. Ph Boy Singh, with some crafty work at the right flank, started creating enough trouble for Mahindras.

A listless Mensah and out of sorts Yakubu did not help matters, and the game was mostly confined to the midfield in the first-half, with neither side getting any real go at the post.

The closest Mahindras came to taking the lead was in the 35th minute, when Yakubu dribbled past Mandeep Singh to smash one blinding right footer straight to the top bar.

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Pereira introduced K Ajayan and Steven Dias after the lemon break but the momentum had shifted to the BSF side. Gurjeet Atwal, who came in for his skipper Santosh Kujur, added to Mahindras8217; trouble much to the annoyance of Sandeep Nandi.

Even the induction of NP Pradeep in the midfield could not inspire any confidence in the flagging morale of the Mumbai side. It was only an unnecessary tackle by T Bhattacharjee on Yakubu in the penalty box that gave Mahindras a glimmer of hope in the form of a penalty kick.

Steven Dias stood up to take the spot kick but a wonderful save by Deepak, in the 77th minute, kept BSF in the match. But it seemed both lady luck as well as the referee were sitting in for Mahindras today.

The second penalty came when T Bhattacharjee again offered a lifeline to Mahindras, handling a volley by Manjit Singh. Yakubu made no mistake this time.

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8220;This is the seventh straight match that we have failed to score as we would want to. The strikers will have to find form soon,8221; said Pereira.

Mahindras will now take on Sporting Clube de Goa in the quarter final. The Goan outfit defeated Army XI 2-1, scoring once on either side of the lemon break, in their pre-quarter final engagement.

They started off in the eighth minute with a goal from Nigerian Olushola Ogundare. And a 71st minute strike from substitute Bibiano Fernandes sealed the Armymen8217;s fate despite a good fight throughout.

A last-ditch effort saw one thrown back at the Goans two minutes into injury time, as Ramachandran found the back of the netting.

Results

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8226;Sporting Clube de Goa 2 Olushola Ogundare 8, Bibiano Fernandes 71 beat Army XI 1 Ramachandran 91

8226;Mahindra United 1 Yusuf Yakubu 87 beat BSF 0

Saturday8217;s matches: Churchill Brothers vs Central Railway; Dempo SC vs Air India