The Hindu : West Bengal & IFA enter semifinals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 30, 2002

Sport

Sport - Football

West Bengal & IFA enter semifinals

By Our Sports Reporter

Mandya April 29. Defending champion West Bengal (IFA) and Jammu and Kashmir entered the semifinals of the M. Dutta Ray under-21National football championship. Bengal (7 points) topped Group I followed by J&K (6 pts) in the second spot. In their last league matches at the M. Visweswaraiah Stadium here on Monday, Bengal drew with Maharashtra 1-1 while Jammu and Kashmir defeated Andhra Pradesh 4-0.

West Bengal, with a tournament history rich with three championship tags and five runners-up plaques, preferred complacence to a quiet confidence. And it nearly ruined Bengal's no-loss record in the championship's latest edition.

Maharashtra surged ahead in the 39th minute as Atchuta Rao swivelled around and found his left footer lend the fatal touch to Paresh Shivalkar's diagonal. That lone moment of reflex-induced magic forced Bengal into a laboured search for the equaliser. Thankfully Ashim Biswas' 85th minute header helped Bengal enter the semifinals with its impregnable aura intact. The striker, who stepped in for Sumit Kumar Sur, found an ally in an Anupam Sarkar freekick.

In the day's second match, J&K baulked with a dormant first half against Group I's whipping boys Andhra Pradesh. The Southern State's custodian Mohd. Asif trusted his instincts more than his defenders and choked the raids. He however lost his luck in the second half while striker Ishfaq Ahmed rediscovered his wheels to guide the J&K caravan.

J&K surged ahead in the 71st minute as Adil Qadir's volley struck a diving Mohd. Asif while Ishfaq charged into the net. However by then the ball had rolled past the goal-line and joy enveloped the J&K camp. Ishfaq was back in action as he side-stepped a charging Asif in the 75th minute and his side-volley helped Sheik Rizwan head in the second goal.

Ishfaq continued unabated with an 82nd minute stinger finding its mark. And when his penalty area blitz got scuttled by Alfred Tennyson, the resultant penalty helped Bilal Ahmed join the scorers list in the 85th minute.

Group I Table (read under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): West Bengal (IFA) 3-2-1-0-12-5-7; J&K 3-2-0-1-7-3-6; Maharashtra (WIFA) 3-1-1-1-3-2-4; Andhra Pradesh 3-0-0-3-2-14-0.

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