BANGALORE, Aug 17: A splendid overlapping run by medio Rocky Barreto gave hosts India the all-important goal, the lone one in the match, in their opening encounter of the Group VI Qualifying Round of the 31st Asian Youth Football Championships at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Monday.The hosts' 1-0 win against an inadequately equipped Maldives came after Kyrgyzstan had handed out a 5-0 drubbing to minnows Bhutan in the inaugural match of the tournament.India took the field an eager lot and made their intentions clear right from the word go with skipper Shaik Sanjib testing Maldives goalkeeper Hameed Hussain in the very opening minute. The tempo continued with Nitin Pradhan helping his captain in the attack with enthusiastic support from mid-fielder James Singh.Maldives replied the Indian forays, in the initial phases, through their captain Hussain Mohammed and Umar Ali. But the duo faded out much before the midway mark of the first session. From then on, there was only goal, the Maldivian, that wasthreatened. A little better marksmanship on the part of the Indian forwards would have certainly put the side ahead much earlier than it actually happened.Halfway through the session, Sanjib cruised through on the right flank before setting up James, but the latter failed to connect the cross. Moments later, the two played an attractive passing bout, which resulted, disappointingly, only in a corner kick. That effort was followed by Prabhjot Singh's 40-yard attempt, which beat the custodian, but sailed over the horizontal.The manner in which the Indian boys exerted pressure on the rival goal meant that they were on the threshold of success. Succeed they did in the 29th minute, when, in a quick counter move, James seized the ball near the centre line, dodged the Maldivian midfield and sent a splitting through pass. Rocky Barreto, who had hitherto maintained a low profile, shot out of `nowhere', latched on to the ball, side stepped a defender and drew the goalkeeper out of his position before slamminginto an empty goal for what was the eventual match winner. Change of ends meant only change in the direction of the attacks.Capitalising on a tired rival defence, the Indians began to take total control of the match. The result of the match looked imminent, in favour of India, and the only question that wrung was the margin of victory.Although, Indian players frequented the rival territory regularly, they failed to improve the margin, only because of their own falterings.The best of the chances for the hosts came with seven minutes for the final whistle, when Murali faced the agony of seeing his swirling left footer rebound from the inside edge of the right upright.Kyrgyzstan rout Bhutan: Earlier, Kyrgyzstan shrugged off their `train-lag' to rout Bhutan 5-0.The lopsided score-line reflected the superiority of the winners against a hapless opponents, although their overall show itself was lacklustre.The side from the Central Asian Republic scored the first goal through a penalty, in the 16thminute. Referee Surendra Sikradhar of Nepal pointed to the penalty spot, penalising Bhutanese goalkeeper Jigme Singye for bringing down an eager Kyrgyz captain Sergey Ivanov inside the box, from where Sergey Kaliubin converted. The floodgates opened thereafter as Kaliubin himself augmented the lead in the 35th minute, which was improved by Azamat Ishanbaev six minutes before the breather.Ivanov who had a superb day playing the pivotal role in their front-line, set up Aleksey Drobotov in the 50th minute. In the 73rd minute Ivanov capped off his day's hard work by driving the last nail into Bhutan's coffin off a Ishanbaev cross.
