The Hindu : Sport / Football : Ngernilal is Army XI's hero

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Tuesday, Apr 17, 2007
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Ngernilal is Army XI's hero

M.R. Praveen Chandran

Kannur: Army XI finally conquered its tormentor of this season by scoring a solitary goal win over Viva Kerala in a Group `A' match of the E.K. Nayanar memorial Gold Cup international football tournament here on Monday.

After suffering two defeats at the hands of the Kochi side in the second division NFL, the Armymen needed huge slices of luck to win.

Viva's Baba Tunde hit the crosspiece twice and Anil Kumar once. Viva also missed a plethora of chances that could have clinched the issue for the Kochi side. Viva nearly snatched an equaliser in the last minute but Army defender Bhattacharjee stopped a header from Anil Kumar with his body. Viva protested that it was a `hand ball' but the referee ruled otherwise.

Mir Bahadur shines

The credit should also go to Army goalkeeper Mir Bahadur who came up with a few blinding saves to deny Anil Kumar and Baba Tunde.

The win keeps Army's hopes alive in the competition and throws Group `B' wide open.

Ngernilal conjured up the decisive goal, against the run of play, in the 68th minute. The Viva defence cleared a counter-attack from the Armymen but Kuki intercepted the high ball. He managed to send a long ball into the Viva's penalty area, which was hesitantly parried away by goalkeeper Noufal. The ball came to Ngernilal who, despite being in an awkward position, took a right-footed volley into the far corner of the net.

It was Army that created the first chance despite being pushed on the back foot by Viva's aggression. A combined effort from Ramachandran and Bhandari saw the latter square the ball to Hemant Lama who had entered the penalty area. However, the striker's first time shot beat the goalkeeper only to bounce off the post.

Close shaves

Army goal survived a few close shaves in the first half. Tunde fed Anil Kumar with a `defence-splitting' pass but the latter slipped. In the 35th minute, Tunde's header hit the cross-piece. He was again unlucky when his on-the-run shot hit the far post before going out in the 44th minute.

The Army goal was under severe pressure after the break but Mir Bahadur's cool head and anticipation kept his side in the hunt.

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