Delhi-Orissa tie ends in a goalless draw

By M.R. Praveen Chandran

CHALAKUDY, MARCH 31. Delhi and Orissa played out a goalless draw in a Cluster VII encounter of the 56th National football championship for the Santosh Trophy at the Carmel Stadium here on Friday. The draw, however, keeps the suspense alive in this group as Delhi will have to beat Chandigarh by a two goal margin to qualify. Orissa completed its engagements with four points.

Both sides had their share of chances and their miseries were largely due to the inconsistency of the strikers. The teams almost fought on level terms throughout the match and seemed to outdo each other in messing up chances. Orissa's Anindya Deb brought off a few fine saves and was instrumental in keeping the contest alive for his side which made shocking errors in defence.

The match started on a sedate note with both sides struggling to find a pattern in attack. But it was Orissa which first showed signs of aggression as it controlled the play in the middle. However, Delhi regained possession in the midfield as Bhupinder Negi and Deepak Gurung combined well to create a few openings for strikers Mahesh Bishit and Hitender Rawat.

In the 24th minute, Mahesh missed the first clear chance enjoyed by Delhi when he shot straight to goalkeeper. Six minutes later, the upright came to Orissa's rescue when Puspender Kundu's header off a Subash Negi flag-kick, ricocheted off the bar and was cleared out. The Orissa goal had another escape when Vimal Thapa blasted out from close after being put through by Deepak Gurung.

The only occasion when Orissa was able to create a stir at the rival goal was when Nipender Das sent a powerful right-footer, which missed the mark narrowly. Though it enjoyed an equal share of exchanges, there was a clear lack of coordination among the Orissa players inside the box which made things easy for Delhi.

The pattern of play remained the same in the second- half, though both the sides came close to scoring at least thrice. But the malady which inflicted the sides in the first session continued to haunt them in the second-half too. Delhi nearly went ahead in the 58th minute as Hitender Rawat got the better off a defensive off-side trap and had a clear look at the Orissa goal. But the striker was a fraction late in shooting and could come up with only a feeble shot which was saved by Anindya Deb without much fuss.

A fast counter attack by Orissa in the next minute saw defender Ravinder Singh bring out a a fine goalline save. Laxman Chatterjee did the right thing, flicking the ball past an advancing Biswanath Deb into an empty net. But Ravinder ran back and cleared the ball with an outstretched left foot. The Delhi custodian also tipped over a stiff shot from Devanand Swain before time ran out.

Assam will take on Uttar Pradesh in a Cluster V encounter on Saturday.

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