Bengal manages a draw

By A. Vinod

THRISSUR, APRIL 10.The sprightly Dipankar Roy will not forget this Central Kerala town, the home base of the famous Pooram festival. Or the Municipal stadium here for that matter, as the venue which helped him enter the record books as the scorer of the fastest goal in the National football championship. However, but for that memorable 9th second strike, it was otherwise an imminently forgettable battle for this Bengal forward and his side which almost paid the price for its complacent approach against a fighting Karnataka on Monday.

It was sheer luck that helped reigning champion to finish the day by withstanding the late rally from its Group 'X' rival and escape with a 2-2 draw. Had the assistant referee in the right flank been in a better position, we would have indeed known whether Xavier Vijayakumar's last-minute shot off a pass from R. C. Prakash entered the Bengal goal after hitting the cross-piece. Sadly, the official was way off the line though it should be also left out that the referee Pradeep Kumar did not bother to check out with his colleague before signalling no-goal.

To the sparse crowd, which as usual was backing the underdog, Xavier should also remain as the day's hero. Not Dipankar who helped the champion side to begin its campaign with a bang, stabbing home a rebound off a James Singh attempt straightaway from the kick-off. Subhas, the Karnataka goalkeeper, was indeed caught by surprise as James Singh came up with a first-timer before he gathered his wits back and pushed the ball away.

However, the shot having dispersed the defensive formation, there was no Karnataka player to clear the ball away and as the rebound bounced on to his path, Dipankar was well focussed to push the ball into the far corner. He had a chance to increase his reputation a few minutes later but this time around was caught in two minds after chasing a long ball from Falguni Datta and entering the rival box. With only the custodian to beat, Dipankar did the unbelievable; he shot the ball over.

In between, Xavier had already touched a chord with the crowd, working hard to breathe some life into the Karnataka attack. He received good support from the long-haired Candid as well. But from the others who manned his side's frontline little help and it was a pity that his efforts were never capitalised by either R.C. Prakash or Sunil.

If the Karnataka attack seemed to lose its way once the ball entered the rival goal-area, the story was no different at the other end. Bengal as usual was slow with its counters with its midfielders more keen enough to keep possession rather than quickly relaying the ball to their colleagues upfront. Perhaps, this also had a lot to do with the poor form displayed by the team captain, Basudeb Mondal, whose only contribution was gaining a free-kick just outside the Karnataka box.

That indifference had already crept into the Bengal camp was evident by the manner in which Raman Vijayan chose to shoot straight to Subhas as the ball came his way off the free- kick. The top-scorer of the inaugural NFL was also wayward after the restart, losing two glit-edged chances with his casual approach. Playing a full match for the first time in three months, after recovering from the injury that forced him miss most of the matches in the recently-concluded league, he, however, was to make amends with a goal that indeed seemed to consolidate Bengal's position.

It was more or less Subhas' fault and his delayed dive that paved the way for Raman Vijayan's soft shot to enter the net. Then, it was Karnataka almost all the way till the end. The turnaround was affected by Naushad Pari, who had replaced Candid at the start of the final session, and helped prove that the Bengal defence was certainly vulnerable. Prakash's effort of that Pari initiated move would not have brought the desired result, but in more ways than one it was to add confidence to the rest of his team-mate.

Karnataka, soon after, was to strike one back through Sunil Kumar, who jumped high over a rival defender to plant the ball into the rival net, off a flag-kick conversion by J.Murali. Ten minutes later, the scores were level as Karnataka continuing to press hard found the equaliser through Prakash. The ITI striker was put through with possession by Murali beat the rival defenders with his speed and was accurate with his volley as he finished in a flash.

It was its own inscrutable ways from what had seemed to be a winning position which left Bengal struggling and settle for a draw. This is not to take any credit away from the Karnataka players who with their never-say-die spirit did show that they too should not be treated lightly in the days to come.

Tamil Nadu will take on Maharashtra and the host Kerala will meet Services in the two matches scheduled for Tuesday.

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Section  : Sport