Published On : Fri, Jan 29th, 2016

A.G. Chandigarh, Kolkata Setup Summit Clash

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DSC_0216Nagpur: Spot light were on goal keepers in both semifinals as A.G. Chandigarh edged past defending champions A.G.Chennai 4-1 via tie breaker to set up title clash with last year’s runners A.G. Kolkata who earned a hard fought win over hosts A.G. Nagpur 6-5 via sudden death, in the Indian Accounts and Audit Department Inter Zonal Football Tournament being played at Chhatrapati Shivaji Stadium, police Ground, Katol Road, Nagpur, organised under the Convener ship of Shri Dinesh Patil, Accountant General (A&E)-II, Maharashtra, Nagpur.

Hosts A.G. Nagpur, went down fighting to a formidable A.G. Kolkata team 6-5 via sudden death. In the first half, Title favorites A.G. Kolkata wasted no time to get the possession of the ball and were on attack from the start. However host A.G. Nagpur hold their fort till 18th minute, but S. Sabeeth of A.G. Kolkata, scored a superb goal to take the lead 1-0, in favour of their team. Half Time Score read 1-0 in favour of A.G. Kolkata.

In the Second Half, hosts were back to their elements and Francis David of A.G. Nagpur scored the equalizer in the 60th when he got a beautiful pass from the left flank to make the score level 1-1. Full time score was 1-1, much to the delight of spectators supporting the hosts. Tie breaker was implied, but both the teams scored 3 each in their allotted 5 shots. For A.G. Nagpur, Naqeeb Akhtar Jr., Rajendra Negi, Francis David converted while Sumit Pundir and K.K. Bharti failed to score. Both goal keepers, Aleem Sheikh of A.G. Nagpur and Arindom Bhatacharya of A.G. Kolkata were at their best in their endeavor.

Scores were still tied 4-4. Crowd assemble were delighted and cheered the hosts. Sudden death was implied. After three shots each, the scores were again tied 6-6. In the 4th shoot, Shoeb Rizwan failed for A.G. Nagpur but Rana Gharami of A.G. Kolkata, coolly put his effort into the net to give his team a berth in the finals.

Earlier, in the First Semi-Final, played between last year’s defending champions A.G. Tamilnadu, Chennai and A.G. Punjab, Chandigarh. A.G. Chandigarh shocked A.G. Chennai 4-1 via Tie Breaker. In the first half, both teams were on the attack right from the word go, but could not penetrate the strong defense on both sides, however there had been many attempts to score but were nullified by both the goalies. Half time score read 0-0. It was the repeat in the second half also, there were several raid to the goal by both the teams but could not convert any.

DSC_0061Full time score read 0-0. Tie breaker was taken, it was the Punjab goalie Manvir Singh, who was the star saving two goals out of the three attempted by A.G. Chennai. For Chandigarh, all the four goals were converted, scorers were Sehajpal Singh, Amandeep Singh, Randeep Singh and Saurav Rajulla. For Chennai, D. Joffin converted but N. Kali Aaludeen couldn’t. Tie breaker and full time score read 4-1, in favour of A.G. Chandigarh. Shri Dinesh Patil, IAAS, Accountant General conveyed congratulations to the winning West Bengal and Punjab team. He also expressed satisfaction over the game played by Nagpur team.

The prize distribution will be at the hands of Shri Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar, Chairman Maharashtra Legislative Council at 4.30 pm while Guest of Honour will be Shri Banwarilal Purohit, Former Member of Parliament and Managing Editor, The Hitavada.

Fixtures for 29-01-2016:
Final: A.G. Punjab, Chandigarh V/s A.G. West Bengal, Kolkata (2.30 pm)

Teams : A.G. Punjab, Chandigarh : Sehajpal Singh (Capt), Manvir Singh, Jashanpreet Singh, Jatinder Singh, Deepak Kumar, , Simranjit Singh, Amandeep Singh, Randeep Singh, Saurav Rajulla, Mohit Raj Singh, Bali Gagandeep, Jaswinder Singh, Sanjay Kumar, Chetan Thakur, Balbinder Singh, Harpreet Singh, Rakinderjeet Singh, Bhavnesh Bhatti. Manager: Manharpreet Singh, Coach: Dinesh Kumar.

A.G. West Bengal, Kolkata: Bhargab Guhu Thakurata (Capt), Amit Kumar Nandi, Somnath Aich, Rana Gharami, Snehangshu Das, N. Mohanraj, Abhinabo Bog, Debayan Saha, Bankok, Nameirakpam, Manish Maithani, Pradeep Mohanraj, C.S.Sabeeth, Arindom Bhatachrya, Souvik Bal, Bhola Das, Gopal Debnath, Anik Dey, Dhana Chandra Singh. Manger: Joy Dev Mondal, Coach: Dipankar Biswas.