The Hindu : Sport / Football : SBT records win

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Friday, Nov 10, 2006
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SBT records win

Principal Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Assam Regiment squandered numerous scoring chances before State Bank of Travancore (SBT), Kerala, rebounded and won 4-3 on penalties in a Group II second round match in the qualifying round of the Durand Cup football tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Thursday.

The army outfit should have won in the regulation time, but Lalduzuala and Thanglungmouna messed up several opportunities from inside the box as the two teams ended goalless at the end of the regulation time.

In the tie-breaker, Assam Regiment was outfoxed when SBT substituted its goalkeeper after two penalty shots had been taken. At 2-2, Harshal Rahman replaced Jean Christian, a move that seemingly unsettled Assam Regiment.

For SBT, Abdul Basheer, Lanel Thomas, Abdul Noushad and Sakeer were on target. Gordona, Lalduzuala and Lalbiakenga scored for Assam Regiment. SBT will await the winner of the second round match between Salgaocar SC, Goa, and Indian Navy XI.

Crucial move

The crucial tie-breaker time substitution by SBT turned the tables on Assam Regiment. Its goalkeeper Abungobi Singh, the penalty shoot-out expert had done a good job under the bar a year ago for the defending champion Army XI in the Durand Cup final.

Playing against Sporting Clube de Goa in the final last December, Army replaced its regular goalkeeper with Abungobi just when it realised that the match was heading into the tie-breaker. On Thursday, Abungobi's team fell to the same tactics.

Earlier in the day, the Corps of Signals, Goa, shut out the last Delhi club in the fray. Playing against the much-fancied Hindustan FC, Corps of Signals won 2-0 in the top half of the Group II.

S.K. Mursheed collected a through pass from Avijit Biswas to put the signalmen one up in the 16th minute. L.T. Pachuau made it 2-0 in the 63rd minute when he fired home a cross from Bajrangi Ram.

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