The Hindu : Sport / Football : Central Excise holds Titanium

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 14, 2006

Sport

Sport - Football

Central Excise holds Titanium

Principal Correspondent

KOZHIKODE: Central Excise held Travancore Titanium to a 2-2 draw in the Royal Challenge State football league at the Corporation Stadium here on Thursday. The result suits holder KSEB, the third team in Pool `A', fine as it has ensured a berth in the semifinals with a game to spare.

It was a match Titanium should have won, despite trailing by two goals inside the first half-hour. The Thiruvananthapuram side messed up nearly half-a-dozen scoring opportunities in the second half, not to mention a penalty kick. Not to be outdone by its rival, Central Excise also wasted a penalty kick.

In the 10th minute, A.M. Sajeer scored the first goal, which came off a corner kick taken by N.P. Risham. Eighteen minutes later, C.C. Hanson made it 2-0, finding the right angle off a cross from Risham down the right. For the second time in three days, the Kochi team took a two-goal lead early in the game. It didn't take them long to squander it as they had against KSEB on the opening day.

In the 40th minute, a fine move initiated on the right flank by M.I. Najeeb Khan was finished off with minimum fuss from close in by T. Usman, who was given a perfect pass by Ebin Rose from just outside the box.

K. Rajesh made it 2-2 in the 59th minute when he struck from the spot after Ebin was fouled by the Excise custodian Shinu Joseph. Titanium was awarded another penalty kick when Usman was brought down. Ebin, however, could only come up with a feeble shot, which was punched away, without too much of an effort, by the Excise `keeper.

Before long, a similar scene was enacted at the other end of the ground, after T. Sebastian fouled P.K Bashir. Titanium custodian H. Anil was hardly tested by the poor shot taken by Mohammed Rajeeb.

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