Vijayans volley Indians to bronze

The Indians, still licking the wounds after the shocking defeat against Bangladesh in the semi-final, were pushed on the defensive with the Maldivians forging ahead as early as the sixth minute. But they restored parity 10 minutes later with striker I M Vijayan producing another brilliant effort.

Cheered by vociferous crowds, Maldives left the Indians in a daze. Striker A G Mausam gave them the lead with a solo effort, capitalising on a defensive lapse. Mausam broke through the defence with deft footwork to place the ball in with none of the defenders in position to foil the move.

Undaunted by the early reversal, the Indians kept attacking and the strategy paid dividends as Vijayan neutralised the lead 10 minutes later by heading home a free-kick by captain Jo Paul Ancheri.

Both teams played their hearts out in the second session but the goal remained elusive till the 86th minute of the proceedings before the experienced Sabir Pasha found the target to put the Indians ahead much to the delight of his team-mates.

With barely a minute for the long whistle, the Indians hit the last nail in the Maldivian coffin with striker Raman Vijayan doing the damage. The goal was the result of a fast counter attack which saw medio Hardeep Sangha dart down the left flank and cross to Raman Vijayan who controlled the ball well and placed it to the left of the goalkeeper.

The Indians could have won by a bigger margin had their forwards not frittered away a few scoring opportunities that came their way, particularly in the opening session.