Lady luck smiles on Tamil Nadu

By Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI, NOV. 6. Tamil Nadu's prayers were answered in the 57th Santosh Trophy National football championships.

The luck of the draw helped it squeeze into the quarterfinal league through the back door as the topper from Cluster VIII. Tamil Nadu's 2-1 win over Bihar on Tuesday left it tied with Gujarat on points, goal difference and mutual match result (1-1 draw).

Finally lots were drawn to identify the winner from among the two, where Tamil Nadu manager K. Kripa proved to be the lucky mascot. ``This is the third time I have been involved with a draw of lots, twice in inter-district tournaments back home. Each time, a small boy from the crowd was involved and the decision went in my favour. As soon as I saw another boy stepping up, I was confident Tamil Nadu would be through,'' said the manager, unable to conceal his delight.

Tamil Nadu joins Bengal and Karnataka in the Group B quarterfinal league. Railways and Punjab were the other teams to qualify for the next phase, the former in Group C alongwith holder Maharashtra and Services, the latter in Group D with Goa and Manipur. Group A comprises Kerala, Assam and Orissa. Andhra Pradesh and Delhi won their cluster matches on Tuesday at the Cooperage, but went out of the tournament.

The cluster leaders were Services (C-I), Manipur (C- II), Railways (C-III), Punjab (C-IV), Assam (C-V), Karnataka (C- VI), Orissa (C-VII) and Tamil Nadu (C-VIII).

Tamil Nadu had to depend on luck to see it through, because its forwards failed to get the third goal needed to pip Gujarat on goal difference, after going 2-1 up in the 58th minute. A lion- hearted performance from tiny Amar Deo Singh in the Bihar goal added to the pressure as the minutes ticked away, then the seconds, for the final whistle. K.G. Joseph's shot on the run in the 79th minute was blocked by custodian Singh.

Then it was ex-international Sabir Pasha's turn to get frustrated, two firm attempts by him in the 80th and 81st minutes were blocked by Singh on the goalline.

Goalkeeper Singh played for pride, so did his mates on the Bihar team, with nothing to gain or lose going into this concluding Cluster VIII match at the University stadium. His test began in the sixth minute when Tamil Nadu's Anthony fired a right-footer, then came celebrations in the 15th minute when Navin Kumar put Bihar ahead.

Tamil Nadu was lucky to draw level in the 21st minute, K. Kulothangan's shot off an M. Jagan pass deflecting off a defender's foot and rolling into the net. A reflex dive by Singh to the left post proved in vain as the ball went the other way.

Tamil Nadu took the lead through a clever penalty conversion by M. Islam, after Kulothangan was floored by an over- anxious Bihar defender, but thereafter the much-needed third goal did not materialise.

Bihar fought for the ball in every part of the ground, as if in a life-and-death situation. Tamil Nadu piled on the pressure, as was to be expected, relaying a lot of balls to Pasha on the left, hoping he would make the goals happen with his right foot, but in vain. Eventually, it was left to a small boy from the crowd, picking up a piece of paper with the words `Tamil Nadu' scribbled on it, to produce the match-winner.

Andhra Pradesh defeated a Railways second string, the latter resting four regulars, including goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee and striker Kasif Jamal.

Hat-trick by Arora

Delhi's attackers found their bearings against Chandigarh after a hotly contested first goal, but could not dislodge Orissa from the top slot in Cluster VII. Delhi striker Parveen Arora cut past two defenders and shot goalwards from an acute angle. The Chandigarh players questioned the referee's decision to award a goal, arguing that the ball had gone in through the side netting, but then had no option but to play on. Manish Kumar and Aziz Santra got the fourth and fifth goals after Arora's hat-trick.

The results:

Cluster III: Andhra Pradesh 1 (Prakash Rao) bt Railways 0.

Cluster VIII: Tamil Nadu 2 (self-goal, M. Islam) bt Bihar 1 (Naveen Kumar).

Cluster VII: Delhi 5 (Parveen Arora 3 hat-trick0, Manish Kumar, Aziz Santra) bt Chandigarh 0.

Cluster IV: Punjab 5 (Gurjeet Singh 2, Sukhjit Singh, Hardeep Singh) bt Uttar Pradesh 0.

Wednesday's quarterfinal league matches: Kerala vs Assam (Group A), Bengal vs Karnataka (Group B).

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