Mahindras rout RCF

The tussle between two old super division rivals started cautiously as both the teams were trying to adapt their game to a slushy ground. In fact, Mahindras were playing a defensive game against the RCF who had surprised Central Railway team earlier in the league.

But a minute before the breather, an opportunistic goal by PJ Jose changed the game. Midfielder Samshi Raza’s long pass in the box forced Jitender Prasad, the RCF goalkeeper, to charge out. But he spilled the ball for Jose who easily put the ball in empty net.

After the breather, RCF needlessly hastened play in an effort to get goals. They surrendered the ball quickly and failed to strike any combination which was seen in the first half.

The second Mahindras goal was scored by strikerManjit Singh by a perfectly executed header off a medio Satish Minz’s corner in the 55th minute. Manjit, one of the two new recruits from East Bengal, left his marker for the dead, latched on to the curling flag-kick and placed the ball past the inside of the first post. Prasad was out of position as he was expecting the ball on the far corner of the goal.

The third goal came from Samshi Raza, the other recruit from East Bengal in the 76th minute as his powerful shot went in from close range. All the hard-work was done by Manjit as he snatched the ball from Prasad and crossed it to Jose who laid down for Samshi to bulge the net.

After conceding three goals, RCF lost heart and chose to defend their citadel. But six minutes after scoring the third, Mahindras added one more to the tally when left-back Khalid Siddique took a long-range shot which got deflected off RCF defender, Balin Singh and rolled into the goal. Prasad, the RCF goalkeeper was caught flat-footed.

They could have added another to thetally in the dying minutes when Manjit was put through by substitute Willy Joy. The former dribbled past couple of defenders and found himself one-to-one against Prasad. But a timely dive by RCF goalkeeper thwarted the chance.

SS Hakim, Mahindras coach, was pleased with the performance of the players. He pointed out the wet playing conditions. “You cannot play the football which you learn. You have to adjust a lot in these conditions.”

He played defender Sushanta Mazumdar in the mid-field and played Samshi Raza also in the mid-field. “Samshi controls and doesn’t panic much while Manjit is doing well on the front.”