Salgaocar extended by Gorkhas

NEW DELHI, NOV 25: Salgaocar coach Shabbir Ali will have to do a lot of soul-searching after today's match against qualifiers Gorkha Brig...

NEW DELHI, NOV 25: Salgaocar coach Shabbir Ali will have to do a lot of soul-searching after today8217;s match against qualifiers Gorkha Brigade. Although the National League champions won 2-0, both coming off spot-kicks, they will hardly be pleased with the display in the Group B quarter-final league match of the Allwyn Durand Cup football tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium.

In contrast, Group D aspirants Tata Football Academy TFA stormed back after a laid-back start to shatter Army XI 4-1 in the first game of the tournament. The TFA boys took full advantage of the almost non-existent Army defence to pump in four goals before relaxing. Striker Trijit Das made a strong statement with three goals and Rajui Singh scoring the other.

However, things changed swiftly soon after TFA decided to adopt the wing-game. They attacked from flanks with the side-backs overlapping to create opportunities. Fortunes took an about turn and TFA were rewarded in the 26th minute with Trijit getting his first goal. Mid-fielderNaresh Mann set up for Trijit, who side-stepped stopper-back Anish Sharma to score.

Three minutes later, Rajui Singh trapped a cross from the left to add to TFA8217;s tally. Army XI may well complain that they missed three players from their Governor8217;s Gold Cup winning team, who had turned out for MEG, Bangalore this time.

Trijit made it 3-0 in the 42nd minute, this time grabbing a square pass from Amandeep Singh that went through Army wing-back Ignatious8217; legs. Even Trijit must have been surprised with the strike that easily rolled past the immobile custodian P Mukherjee.

Eleven minutes into the second half, Trijit punched another hole in the Army territory, this time mid-fielder Alex Ambross helping him.

Army got one back in the 63rd minute with Pushkar Bhandari scoring off Amar Bahadur Thapa8217;s cross from right. Later, Sajit Kumar8217;s angled shot narrowly missed the target.

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Although the TFA-Army XI match provided some fireworks, the second match of the day proved a lacklustre affair. Salgaocar, who hadto wait nearly an hour for Gorkha Brigade, caught in a traffic jam, to arrive appeared to have gone cold during the time.

There were only two goal-bound moves in the first half apart from the goal in the 23rd minute. Santos was tripped by Norgen Lama inside the box and referee S Bhattacharya did not hesitate while pointing at the dreaded spot. Nigerian Habib Adekunle converted to put Salgaocar ahead.

Five minutes later, Denis Cabral set Mondal free on the right, whose remarkable chip rebounded off the far post. Earlier in the 15th minute, Santos saw his angular shot miss the target by inches.

In the 44th minute, Santos was again brought down in the box by Lama and the Brazilian himself converted for Salgaocar8217;s second goal.