Philip shines in Mahindras win

Played under inadequate floodlights later in the evening, Syed Sabir Pasha’s brilliance that brooked two first-half goals brought Indian Bank (Chennai) a 2-1 victory over Punjab State Electricity Board (Hoshiapur). The Punjab outfit’s second half recovery, stemming from skipper Sandeep Saini’s fluent header from a flag-kick brought a seemingly one-sided match alive.

In a battle between two third placed sides in the Mumbai and Goa leagues, Sesa, runners-up in 1995, threatened with a flurry of attacks that had Mahindras struggling.

Sesa’s left-winger Alvito D’Cunha caught the eye in the very first minute itself but Ramesh Razak, Mahindras’ seasoned campaigner, saved the young striker’s attempt on the goal-line.

Mahindras have been facing troubled times in the last year or so. Early stuttering didn’t augur well for the jeepmen especially with the buzz surrounding the Goan side’s play.

D’Cunha combining with Levino Pereira and Kanan Priolkar caused all sorts of problems for the Mumbai outfit. Gumpe Rime heaved relief before the match was even five minutes old when Priolkar headed wide and over and minutes later Rahmatulla kept Mahindras’ goal intact with a goal-line clearance for a corner from Pereira’s lob.

Sesa waved goodbye to ascendancy after D’Cunha blasted Priolkar’s pass miles over with Rime helpless. Mahindras siezed territorial domination thereafter, inevitably through the nippy Philip who fired a left-footer over in the 15th minute.

On hindsight, an injury to Priolkar who carried Sesa’s thrusts down the middle, could well have been the turning point. The dazed striker limped through the remainder of the half with a bandaged head before being substituted at half-time.

With Philip as hub, Mahindras pressed the Sesa defence hard and befittingly the diminutive striker scored from a quick move from the deep.

African recruit Onyeka Okafor’s long ball had Andrew Louis chipping to the right. Philip capped a sprightly charge to the right with a volley in the 39th minute that punished a hesitant Francis Fernandes in the goal.

Sesa were virtually non-existent in attack in the second half and Mahindras swarmed forward in numbers. Khalid Siddique, Sanjay Rawal, substitute Sanjay Dayal and Philip himself should have done far better than they did with a host of chances that came the Mumbai outfit’s way.

The most underated side in the inaugural National Football League, Indian Bank, pieced together some attractive moves. Forwards DC Nathaniel (ex-Mahindras), Selvakumar and Pasha had the Punjab side back-pedalling with fine control and speed. With Bobby Hamilton joining in from mid-field the PSEB defence bore a harried look.

PSEB, however, had the first real chances of the match. Gurdish and Gurvinder tested goalkeeper Sebastian Netto twice before the first half reached its half-way mark but Pasha grabbed the match by the scruff on the 25 minute mark.

With identification becoming a problem in poor floodlighting, Pasha left no room for doubt with an electrifying burst down the middle. The hero of the SAF Games outpaced the PSEB defence before slotting past Jatinder Singh in goal. Another burst of energy down the left wing by the India striker, followed by a clinical finish between the post and the ‘keeper on the call of half-time made it 2-0.

PSEB came steadily back in the second half although the bank did not let up in attack. With the Punjab side’s left-wing pair of Parminder and Saini making their presence felt, PSEB nurtured more than semblance of a chance.It came from a corner by Parminder with Saini timing his jump to perfection, heading past a pedestrian bank defence in the 61st minute.

Indian Bank held the edge even as PSEB improved in attack but the scoreboard never looked like changing as rival strikers faltered.