Railways on the right track

By Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI, NOV. 4. Railways is one of the better-prepared teams competing in the 57th Santosh Trophy National football championships, unfettered by divided loyalties affecting state teams dependent on clubs. The team management gets the talent it wants from among employees located all over the country, players are willing to put their best foot forward because there is no sense of insecurity.

The focus on football was clearly evident in the Railways camp on the first day of its Santosh Trophy campaign, reducing Andhra Pradesh to the status of passengers when itcompleted a 4-0 rout in a Cluster III game at the University stadium on Sunday. Even after taking such a huge lead, the winner did not slacken its vigil, as it refused to experiment and kept on pressuring the rival defence till the end. The accent was on ball possession at all costs, and the pleasing passing patterns a visual delight.

Asif Jamal's delightful close control and opportunism fetched him two goals after Partho Mitra and Manjinder Singh had rendered Andhra Pradesh ineffective with a goal each in the first half. Even with the cushion of a four-goal lead, coaches Irenio Vaz and Shankar Maitra refused the temptation of a change of goalkeepers. Sangram Mukherjee, a confident performer for India in the tour of England under Bhaichung Bhutia's captaincy, played the full match, forcing a custodian of Raghuveer Khanolkar's calibre to wait for his turn under the bar.

Partho Mitra was in the right place at the right time, as Railways went ahead in the 30th minute. Andhra goalkeeper Dawood bin Mustafa rushed out to collect a cross from the left, but even at full stretch could only get his fingertips to the ball, which continued its course, struck Mitra's body and rolled in. The next three goals were classy efforts, a passing bout between Kasif Jamal and Manjinder in the 39th minute prising open the mass of Andhra defenders in the middle before the latter shot home.

Then Asif Jamal struck twice, eluding defenders with off-the-ball running before slotting the ball home in the 51st and 59th minutes. ``The team can play better,'' observed coach Vaz, an ominous warning to those teams in the Railways line of fire. ``The boys are getting a feel of the ground conditions and the heat. I am making them understand the importance of playing as a unit,'' he added. The Railways team was shortlisted after the inter-Railways event in Margao, then a follow-up camp in Ajni (Nagpur) for 15 days when the combination was finalised.

Gujarat later stunned Bihar 2-1 to lead Cluster VII after two matches, having drawn 1-1 with Tamil Nadu earlier. Rajiv Karir scored 30 seconds after start, kicking the ball goalwards from the left only to see goalkeeper Deepender Sha beaten by the flight. Navin Kumar got the equaliser in the 10th minute, beating goalkeeper George Mathew to a common ball and jabbing home. A concentration lapse by the Bihar custodian led to the Gujarat match-winner, a 59th minute long-range effort by Rajesh Tadvi slipping through the goalkeeper's hands. Tamil Nadu now needs to beat Bihar by a big margin on November 6 to move ahead of Gujarat on goal difference in the three-team cluster.

The results:

Cluster III: Railways 4 (Asif Jamal 2, Partho Mitra, Manjinder Singh) bt Andhra Pradesh 0.

Cluster VIII: Gujarat 2 (Rajeev Karir, Rajesh Tadvi) bt Bihar 1 (Naveen Kumar).

Cluster VII: Orissa 1 (Saroj Kant Patnaik) drew with Chandigarh 1 (Gurminder).

Cluster IV: Uttar Pradesh 5 (Afroz Ahmed 3 hat-trick, Manmeet Singh 2) bt Tripura 2 (Kiran Chetri 2).

Monday's matches: Karnataka vs Daman & Diu (C-VI), Haryana vs Manipur (C-II), Assam vs Pondicherry (C- V).

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