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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Quarterfinal League Group A | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 16.00 IST Churchill Brothers SC 1-0 Army XI Goals: 1-0 Ogba Kalu Nnanna (41') CHURCHILL BROTHERS: 29-Arindam Bhattacharya; 4-Rowilson Rodrigues, 3-Warundeep Singh, 19-Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, 17-Robert Lalthalma, 30-J Jugeshor Singh (78' 26-Yumnam Raju Mangang), 9-Ogba Kalu Nnanna, 14-Nicolas L Rodrigues (76' 15-Chitrasen Chandam Singh), 37-Ashley Fernandes, 12-Reisangmi Vasum, 10-Odafe Onyeka Okolie Unused Substitutes: 1-Vinay Singh, 2-Villroy D'Cruz, 6-Govin Moirangthem Singh, 11-Khemtang Paite, 22-Jason Vales, 32-Savio Monteiro ARMY XI: 1-Robikanta Singh; 2-KP Kabui, 4-Nogen Lama, 5-Dileep M, 19-Lalraiteela, 17-Laldingliana (84' 15-Sudhit Mishra), 16-LN Munda (56' 6-Thirunavakarsu), 8-Gordon Z, 13-Mahesh Rai, 9-MG Ramachandran, 10-Sochungmi Raleng (69' 7-Nguernilal Hmar) Unused Substitutes: 3-Bijen Bondra, 11-Vijay Thapa, 12-Avijit Biswas, 21-Somanth Das, 24-H Jembo Singh, 30-Kazi Zaman YELLOW CARDs: Robert Lalthalma (76', Churchill Brothers); MG Ramachandran (64', Army XI) REFEREE: Nazir Ahmed (Jammu&Kashmir) ASSISTANT REFEREES: BS Negi (Delhi), OP Thakur (Jharkhand) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Minangshu Bhattacharya (West Bengal) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: Churchill Brothers SC became the second team to qualify for the semifinals of the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup after a 1-0 win over Army XI. The Goans were not impressive today and were taken aback by a spirited performance by the Armymen. Today it looked like Churchill Brothers were depending on star striker Odafe Onyeka Okolie to deliver, but his failure can change the whole course of the game. Odafe was totally checked by the Army XI defenders. The Raghvinder Singh coached side came-up with a different strategy for last years golden boot winner and they didn't give him free space. It is a serious worry for coach Emeka Ezuago who is banking all his trust on Odafe. Army XI though were successful to stop the goal machine for Churchill Brothers but were left shattered when a Robikanta Singh error gave a crucial win to the Goan side. There weren't many attempts from both the sides; a couple of half hearted attempts from the Goans was only thing to see in the match, the match was not up to the standard everyone had expected. Churchill Brothers got the only goal of the match in the 41st minute when a Obga Kalu Nnanna header went in after a drop from Army goalkeeper Robikanta Singh's hand from Jugeshor Singh's cross from the right flank. Odafe only came in the view in the 53rd minute when he took a brilliant freekick, but his freekick was brilliantly saved by Robikanta Singh to deny Churchill Brother to extend their lead. The Goans again came close to scoring their second goal in the 85th minute when a Reisangmi Vasum shot was saved by the Army keeper. Army XI did put up a brave show but their strikers as well as midfielders didn't find much space to penetrate their crosses as well as execute their moves. With this loss Army XI became the first team to exit from the 121st edition of the Durand Cup. The 2005 winners didn't have the best of tournaments this year, though they were the best team in the pre-quarterfinal league. Churchill Brothers coach Emeka Ezugo didn't seem satisfied with his team performance and said that, "the guys are not executing the things the way as I taught them, and they are not doing even the basic things." Yes certainly it is matter of worry for the man who played for Nigeria in the 1994 World Cup. He still has one match to go to set out his plan and rectify the mistakes before the semifinals. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Quarterfinal League Group A | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 14.00 IST Mahindra United 1-1 Mumbai FC Goals: 1-0 M Mohammed Rafi (4'), 1-1 Ahmed Felix Aboagye (41' pen) MAHINDRA UNITED: 22-Amit Nandi; 7-Sushanth Mathew, 14-Dharmaraj Ravanan, 21-Justin Stephen, 4-Krishnan Nair Ajayan; 5-Harpreet Singh, 17-Sukhwinder Singh, 29-Djidjia Douhou Pierre, 8-Paresh Shivalkar (58' 28-Sushil Kumar Singh); 11-M Mohammed Rafi, 10-Chidi Edeh Unused Substitutes: 1-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 3-Manas Das, 12-Manjit Singh, 16-Sunil Kumar, 20-Bhola Prasad MUMBAI FC: 13-Kalyan Chaubey; 28-Kamaljit Kumar, 2-Anes Edathodika, 3-James Cobblah Dissiramah, 19-Sanjay Parte, 21-Aseem Kutty (71' 26-Nishant Mehra), 7-Sampath Kumar Kuttimani (65' 8-Noel Anthony Wilson), 17-Kalia Kulothungan, 27-Anees Kutty (45' 29-Subash Chakraborty), 9-Abhishek Yadav, 10-Ahmed Felix Aboagye Unused Substitutes: 1-Amit Singha Roy, 6-Pradeep Mohanraj, 14-Anthony Fernandes, 15-Craig D'Souza, 16-Romenjit Singh, 24-Peter Siddique YELLOW CARDs: Amit Nandi (28'), Paresh Shivalkar (58'), Krishnan Nair Ajayan (74', all Mahindra United); James Cobblah Dissiramah (35'), Sanjay Parte (40', both Mumbai FC) REFEREE: Dinesh Nair (Gujarat) ASSISTANT REFEREES: Pratap Singh (Services), Ratheesh Kumar (Services) FOURTH OFFICIAL: N Kumaran (Services) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: Mahindra United were held to a one-all draw by local rivals Mumbai FC in their second match of the quarterfinal league in the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup. Mahindra United had a dream start and left the David Booth coached side astonished in the initial stages of the game. Mumbai FC did play a competitive game in the first half but were not able to carry the same momentum into the second half. Mahindra United though dominated the second half but every time they approached the goalline they were denied by Mumbai FC keeper Kalyan Chaubey. Seasoned Kalyan was awesome with the gloves today and denied Mahindra United at least five times to take the lead in the second half. Mohammed Rafi gave the crucial lead in just the 4th minute to Mahindra United after Sampath Kumar Kuttimani lost possession of the ball on top of the 18 yard box; Djidjia Douhou Pierre passed the ball to Chidi Edeh who further squared the ball for Mohammed Rafi who finished with ease. If Kalyan Choubey was the hero for Mumbai FC, Douhou Pierre and Sukhwinder Singh was certainly the playmakers for Mahindra United. Kalyan was tested by Douhou Pierre's curling cross or Sukhwinder shot from the middle throughout the whole match. Mumbai FC got the important equaliser just before the lemon break when Assem Kutty was brought down by Mahindra United stopper Dharmaraj Ravanan; the foul resulted in a penalty in favour of Mumbai FC. Felix Aboagye scored from the spotkick to bring his side back in the game in 41st minute. Ivorian Pierre was on song for the Derrick Pereira coached side and could have scored with his freekick in the 78th minute but he was unable to beat Kalyan Chaubey, who again saved a Sukhwinder Singh shot in the 84th minute. Mahindra United and Mumbai FC share one point each after the match ended in a draw. Mahindra United now have four points from two matches and need at least one more point from their final game against Churchill Brothers to qualify for the semifinals. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

Calcutta Premier League: Mohammedan Sporting Club 1-1 Mohun Bagan AC - Goals: 1-0 Theodore Sunday Wrobeh (45+2' pen), 1-1 Habibur Rehman Mondal (90+2').
Mohammedan Sporting: 22-Tharangachan; 23-Rajib Ghosh, 2-V Prem Kumar, 6-Sheikh Azim, 30-Bijoy Das; 27-A Jyothi Kumar (90+1' 12-Prasanta Chakraborty), 16-Sovan Chakraborty, 34-Lalchhuan Awma (73' 7-Roque Barreto), 5-Mir Farooq Hyder (31' 4-Subhas Mondal); 10-Mike Okoro, 11-Theodore Sunday Wrobeh.
Mohun Bagan: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 14-Peter Odafe, 4-Deepak Kumar Mondal, 26-Nallappan Mohanraj (46' 24-Rino Anto); 19-Shylo Malswam Tulunga, 25-Sargolsem James Singh (67' 7-Lal Kamal Bhowmick), 20-Rakesh Masih, 23-Lalramluaha; 8-Tapan Maity (46' 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto), 22-Karthik Kisku.
Yellow Cards: Mir Farooq Hyder (24'), V Prem Kumar (56', both Mohammedan Sporting).
Man of the Match: Sheikh Azim (Mohammedan Sporting).
Referee: Dhanapati Roy.

Calcutta Super Division: SAIL 0-3 Tollygunge Agragami
Calcutta Super Division: Indian Air Force 2-0 Mohammedan AC
Calcutta Super Division: West Bengal Police 1-2 Calcutta Customs
Calcutta Super Division: Eastern Railway SC 0-2 Bengal-Nagpur Railway

Guwahati Super Division: Assam Dynamo Club 2-1 SAI, Guwahati - Goals: 1-0 Lalrimfela (15'), 2-0 Samir Sil (44'), 2-1 Jibeswar Boro (74').

3rd Manipur State League: Phoudel Youth Club, Thoubal 1-4 NEROCA
3rd Manipur State League: Tiddim Road Athletic Union 0-2 Southern Sporting Union
3rd Manipur State League: AMOFA, Moirang 0-2 TRUGPU, Nambol
3rd Manipur State League: Eastern Sporting Union 1-0 USA, Khurai
3rd Manipur State League: Manipur Police SC 2-2 NISA, Thangmeiband

1st "Airtel" GTC Challenge Trophy, Guwahati - Final: Assam Electricity State Board 1-1,5-4 Jewel Star Club - Goals: 1-0 Mani Kanta Brahma (26'), 1-1 Subhasis Nayak (86').

::: PIO Michael Chopra in rehab :::
"Player of Indian Origin" Michael Chopra, who plays for English Premier League side Sunderland FC has gone for rehabilitation to the Sporting Chance Clinic in Hampshire, set up by former Arsenal and England defender Tony Adams, who struggled with alcoholism for much of his career.
The 24 year old striker, a former England Junior international, had married reality television celebrity Heather Swan just a couple of month's ago but they had split a few weeks ago. Chopra is also the father of a six month old son.
Chopra is said to have problems with gambling and in his relationship, but he has the support of his family and his club.
One can only wish Michael Chopra all the best...

::: 49th Subroto Cup to kick off from September 2 :::
Around 2000 teams from 35 states would vie for honours at the 49th Subroto football tournament which kicks off at the Ambedkar stadium, Delhi from September 2. The tournament will be held in two age groups i.e. Sub-Junior U14 and Juniors U17 and for the first time will include preliminary rounds which will be hosted by Delhi school and those of the National Capital Region. The event will also have participants from foreign countries like Switzerland, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
"A U14 club team from Switzerland, called FC Kusnacht will be participating in the tournament," said Air Marshall Nirmal Verma. But the Swiss side will only play exhibition matches due to non-availability for the whole duration of the tournament.
The junior category will have 32 team while the sub-junior category will have 28 teams competing among each other for the title.
"We have changed the format a bit this time. we have asked the schools to host the prelims, which we have introduced this time. Also we would like to request the state governments to host a school level tournament so that instead of the best school from the state we can have best team competing in the tournament," Verma said.
The junior U17 team will have a winning prize money of Rs 100,000, while the runner-up will be given an amount of Rs 60,000. There is also a cash reward for the best player of the tournament and most promising player of the tournament i.e. one who hits the most number of goals. Each of these players will be awarded a ungeared scooter along with a cash price of Rs 10,000.

August 30

RESULTS & NEWS

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Quarterfinal League Group B | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 16.00 IST Sporting Clube de Goa 1-0 Air-India Goals: 1-0 Anthony D'Souza (85') SPORTING CLUBE DE GOA: 1-Felix D'Souza; 4-Chinta Chandrashekhar Rao, 6-Philip Gomes, 24-N Samananda Singh, 27-Lairenjam Bisheshwor Singh, 14-Wilton Gomes (46' 29-Thoudam Joychandra Singh), 22-Joseph Pereira, 26-Micky Fernandes, 36-Steven Fernandes (73' 37-Anthony D'Souza), 12-Lavino Fernandes (46' 7-Harmanjot Singh Khabra), 9-Freddy Mascarenhas Unused Substitutes: 31-Gerald D'Mello, 16-Waikhom Ngouba Singh, 25-Khwairakpam Rojit Singh, 28-Singam Rojen Singh, 33-Rovan Pereira AIR-INDIA: 30-Sarath EC; 2-Haobijam Napoleon Singh, 4-Syed Farid, 6-Leishangthem Uttam Singh, 29-Udofia Chiukwama, 3-Ravinder Singh, 10-Soccor Velho, 11-Hringsolal Thomte, 14-Gouranga Biswas (56' 18-Vijith Shetty), 12-Singam Subhash Singh (60' 8-Kumar Samson Singh), 27-Bashiree Mohammed Abbas (80' 22-Surojit Roy) Unused Substitutes: 24-Arup Debnath, 7-Bijay Basfore, 9-Jamir Ali Mondal, 19-Santosh Kohli, 26-Amrit Pal Singh YELLOW CARDs: Ravinder Singh (45', Air-India); Micky Fernandes (60', Sporting Clube) REFEREE: Minangshu Bhattacharya (West Bengal) ASSISTANT REFEREES: Dinesh Nair (Gujarat), AK Ghosh (Delhi) FOURTH OFFICIAL: KK Rakshit (Delhi) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: Sporting Clube de Goa kept their hopes alive to qualify for the semifinals in the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup by defeating I-League rivals Air-India by a solitary goal. This was the first defeat of the Bimal Ghosh coached side in this edition of the Durand Cup after drawing with TFA in their last match. The match was very decisive for both the teams and at one point it seemed like the match will end in a goalless draw but the 85th minute goal by substitute Anthony D'Souza left Air-India shattered. After going down 1-3 in the previous match against JCT, Sporting Clube had to win this game to keep them in the hunt to qualify for the semifinals. Two changes just after the lemon break did add pace to Sporting Clube's attack and gave them an edge over their rivals. Sporting Clube is yet to finalize their foreign players. With the induction of foreign players the Vishwas Goankar side will do better in the coming matches. Bimal Ghosh's side don't have many options to experiment especially in their striking zone, the two dependable strikers Bashiree Mohammed Abbas and Samson Singh are not in their best of forms which is really a worry for the Mumbai side. After their last defeat against JCT, Sporting Clube were more determined and combined especially in the midfield and striking zone. The first attempt on goal from Sporting Clube came in just the 7th minute through Bisheshwor Singh whose shot was saved by the Air-India goalkeeper Sarath EC. Air-India replied strongly after Bisheshwor's attempt and came close to score their first goal but Gouranga Biswas' header was just off target after a curling cross by Ravinder Singh from the left flank. Lavino Fernandes missed a sitter in the 15th minute and denied Sporting Clube to take the crucial lead. Chandrashekhar Rao made a fine run with the ball in the middle and passed the ball to Lavino, whose left footed shot was off target. A defensive lapse in the 39th minute by Sporting Clube stopper Philip Gomes could have made a difference to the result but unfortunately Subhash Singh's shot was off target. The score line was goalless after the end of the first half. Vishwas Gaonkar made two changes during the lemon break, with the induction of Harmanjot Singh Khabra and Thoudam Joychandra Singh Sporting Clube played a much better game than Air-India. A 58th minute goal by Micky Fernandes was ruled offside by the assistant referee Dinesh Nair which gave Air-India a lifeline to be still in the game. A further substitution in the 73rd minute as Anthony D'Souza came in place of Steven Fernandes changed the whole course of the game for Sporting Clube. Anthony D'Souza gave his team the lead in the 85th minute which confirmed their victory. Sporting Clube are now second in the Group II with three points. Sporting Clube still need a point from their last quarterfinal league match against TFA to make it to the last four in the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Quarterfinal League Group B | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 14.00 IST JCT, Phagwara 3-1 Tata Football Academy Goals: 0-1 Niroshan Mani (19'), 1-1 Balwant Singh (21'), 2-1 Eduardo da Silva Escobar (49'), 3-1 Baldeep Singh Sr (66') JCT: 1-Karanjit Singh; 2-Jaspal Singh, 3-Anwar Ali, 4-Julius Irabor Akpele, 12-Daljit Singh; 6-Baljit Singh Sahni, 7-Jagpreet Singh (73' 24-Gurwinder Singh), 13-Baldeep Singh Sr, 27-Baldeep Singh Jr (66' 19-Randeep Singh); 10-Eduardo da Silva Escobar (80' 25-Sakatar Singh), 9-Balwant Singh Unused Substitutes: 31-Prasanta Dora, 5-Narinder Singh, 8-Jaswinder Singh, 14-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 17-Amandeep Singh, 22-Pawan Kumar TATA FOOTBALL ACADEMY: 1-Jagroop Singh; 2-Daniel Albert, 3-Raju Gaikwad, 12-Hardeep Singh, 16-Gurjinder Singh, 9-Robin Singh, 6-Subodh Kumar, 7-Jagannath Sana, 10-Jagtar Singh, 17-Prakash Deepak (38' 22-Z Stamhanghal), 14-Niroshan Mani (64' 11-Sheikh Mustakim) Unused Substitutes: 21-Ishant Debnath, 8-Dipankar Goldar, 15-George Alwin, 18-Ramandeep Singh, 20-Ravinder Singh, 23-Chingkhei Meetei, 25-Abhishek Das YELLOW CARDs: Robin Singh (57', TFA) REFEREE: A Arjunan (Services) ASSISTANT REFEREES: SB Saha (Delhi), Bikramjit Purkayastha (Delhi) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Hari Chand (Delhi) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: JCT recorded their second successive win in the quarterfinal league of the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup defeating Tata Football Academy by 3-1. With this win JCT became the first team to qualify for the semifinals. JCT were taken aback in the initial stage of the game when TFA pulled off a goal within the first 20 minutes but soon with the equaliser by Balwant Singh they took the game out of the Carlton Chapman coached sides grasp. It was surely a spirited performance by the Tata Football Academy boys in the first twenty minutes but thereafter they lost their tempo and failed to carry the momentum. Commenting on this TFA coach Carlton Chapman said that, "Its learning lesson for them that will help them to learn think professionally." JCT goalkeeper Karanjit Singh was tested in the very first minute by Jagannath Sana, when his grounded shot was saved by him. TFA used their stamina and pace in the first twenty minutes and got the crucial goal in the 19th minute, when Prakash Deepak corner was headed in by Niroshan Mani after Karanjit totally missed the flight of the ball which gave the chance to Niroshon Mani to score a goal for his team. TFA failed to keep their lead and conceeded the equaliser just two minutes later when Balwant Singh headed the ball in the far post from Jaspal Singh's cross from the right flank after Eduardo provided the pass from the middle in the 21st minute. Soon after the restart into the second half TFA came close to score their second goal in the 46th minute when Daniel Albert made a fine run with the ball in the centre and passed the ball to Subodh Kumar, who further passed the ball to substitute Z Stamhanghal whose shot was saved by Karanjit Singh to deny TFA to take the lead for the second time in the match. Subodh Kumar, a current member of the India under-19 team, came close to scoring a goal in the 48th minute when his long range shot just went over the bar post. The boy from Ranchi certainly has great potential and already has won many hearts in Delhi with his performance. On the other hand JCT scored the second goal through Brazilian Eduardo da Silva Escobar in the 49th minute when he netted with ease after a flick by Balwant Singh from a Daljit Singh throw-in. The long range throw by the JCT left-back provided ample time to Balwant to flick the ball. Baldeep Singh could have scored third goal for his team in the 58th minute from Eduardo's cross but his header was just off target. JCT finally scored the third goal in 66th minute through Baldeep Singh Sr when he scored from another Eduardo cross. The Brazilian was on song in today's game like in the previous match against Sporting Clube de Goa, which is great news for JCT with a long season ahead. JCT never looked back after scoring their third goal and won the match comprehensively in the end. Even with the loss TFA still has the chance to qualify for the semifinals. It's an open race for the second place in Group II in which Air-India, Sporting Clube de Goa and the Tata Football Academy have lost one game each. JCT now has six points from two matches and sitting very comfortably on top of the standings with a decent goal average of +4. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

Calcutta Premier League: East Bengal Club 3-0 Railway FC - Goals: 1-0 Mehraj din Wadoo (78'), 2-0 Edmilson Marques Pardal (82'), 3-0 Sunil Chetri (85').
East Bengal: 1-Abhra Mondal; 3-Nirmal Chetri, 2-Muttath Suresh [C], 4-Suley Musah, 19-Syed Rahim Nabi; 22-Sanju Pradhan (87' 6-Dipankar Roy), 26-Mehraj din Wadoo, 28-Chhangte Malswamkima (73' 30-Edmilson Marques Pardal), 8-Renedy Singh (53' 9-Alvito D'Cunha); 10-Ashim Biswas, 11-Sunil Chetri.
Railway FC: 1-Rakesh Prasad; 22-Muzaffar Rehman, 4-Sangram Mandi, 2-Abhijit Datta [C], ??-Nilanshu Mitra; 15-Munna Mallick, 8-Santosh Oraon (82' 24-Sankha Roy Chowdhury), ??-Tarak Nath, 10-Kaltu Hembram (88' 39-Sudipto Banik), ??-Swarnava Barua (86' 34-Dibanjan Das), 11-Sanjib Mishra.
Yellow Cards: none.
Man of the Match: Sanju Pradhan (East Bengal).
Referee: Debashish Mukherjee.

Calcutta Premier League: Chirag United SC 1-1 Peerless SC - Goals: 1-0 Shankar Oraon, 1-1 Uzozle Emmanuel Junior.

11th Goa Professional League: Raia Sporting Club 3-0 Velsao Pale SC - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Rakshak Naik (28',37'), 3-0 Lairamntengnawia Manta (66').

11th Goa Professional League: Vasco SC 2-0 Sesa Football Academy - Goals: 1-0 Agnelo Colaco (34'), 2-0 Agnelo D'Souza (59').
Yellow Cards: Suraj Mondal, Fulgence Cardozo, Agnelo Colaco, Menino Fernandes (all Vasco); Carlos Fernandes, Israel Gurung (both Sesa Football Academy).
Referee: Anjulo Fernandes.

Guwahati Super Division: Assam Police Blues 1-3 Assam State Electricity Board - Goals: 1-0 Sanjay Brahma (13'), 1-1,1-2,1-3 Utpal Basumatary (25' pen,33',73' pen).

Guwahati Super Division: Sunrise Club 3-0 Maharana AC = Maharana didn't field a team for the match

3rd Manipur State League: NLYC, Churachandpur 2-3 YWC, Thambalkhong

::: Manchester United U16 vs INDIA U16 on September 9 :::
The Under-16 boys of English giants Manchester United will host the INDIA U16 boys on September 9 at their "The Cliff" training ground for a friendly match at 19.00 GMT. The doors will be open for the game and everyone is welcome.
Our boys can do with some support, so hopefully people based in the UK will go and support them!!!

August 29

RESULTS & NEWS

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Quarterfinal League Group A | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 16.00 IST Churchill Brothers SC 3-1 Mumbai FC Goals: 1-0,2-0 Odafe Onyeka Okolie (32',44'), 3-0 Savio Monteiro (71'), 3-1 Noel Anthony Wilson (76' pen) CHURCHILL BROTHERS: 29-Arindam Bhattacharya; 4-Rowilson Rodrigues, 3-Warundeep Singh, 19-Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, 17-Robert Lalthalma (90' 14-Nicolas L Rodrigues); 30-J Jugeshor Singh, 9-Ogba Kalu Nnanna, 37-Ashley Fernandes (80' 15-Chitrasen Chandam Singh), 12-Reisangmi Vasum, 32-Savio Monteiro (73' 37-Thangjam Saran Singh), 10-Odafe Onyeka Okolie Unused Substitutes: 1-Vinay Singh, 2-Villroy D'Cruz, 6-Govin Moirangthem Singh, 11-Khemtang Paite, 22-Jason Vales, 26-Yumnam Raju Mangang MUMBAI FC: 13-Kalyan Chaubey; 14-Anthony Fernandes (63' 28-Kamaljit Kumar), 24-Peter Siddique, 3-James Cobblah Dissiramah, 19-Sanjay Parte, 21-Aseem Kutty, 7-Sampath Kumar Kuttimani, 29-Subash Chakraborty, 9-Abhishek Yadav (73' 15-Craig D'Souza), 10-Ahmed Felix Aboagye (73' 26-Nishant Mehra) Unused Substitutes: 1-Amit Singha Roy, 2-Anes Edathodika, 6-Pradeep Mohanraj, 16-Romenjit Singh, 17-Kalia Kulothungan, 27-Anees Kutty YELLOW CARDs: Sanjay Parte (59', Mumbai FC) REFEREE: A Rowan (Services) ASSISTANT REFEREES: Pratap Singh (Services), N Kumaran (Services) FOURTH OFFICIAL: A Arjunan (Services) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: Defending champions Churchill Brothers SC registered a thumping win over the newly promoted I-League side Mumbai FC by 3-1 in the quarterfinal league of the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup. Riding high on a Odafe Onyeka Okolie brace Churchill Brothers went on to score three goals before Noel Wilson pulled one back from a penalty for the Mumbai side. Odafe, last years golden boot winner and highest scorer of the 2007 Durand Cup still looks in the same nick. Already scoring a hattrick in the Goa Pro League against I-League Champion Dempo SC in their first competitive match of the season, he has already become a threat for every team in the Durand Cup. The whole game revolves around this man who is no doubt the back bone of the Goan side. Odafe started slowly reading the opponent defenders, allowing young Reisangmi Vasum to play as a striker along with Savio Monteiro. But once he read the opponents defensive tactics he showed his class, skill and the speed for which he is known for. Even he was feeling the heat and was forced to slow down himself after scoring two goals in quick succession. The Emeka Ezugo coached side got their first attempt in the 25th minute when Vasum took a shot from 25 yards out that was off target, his second shot was a little better which went directly in the hands of Mumbai FC goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey. Vasum was looking good along with Odafe. After some half hearted attempt by his side Odafe came into action in the 32nd minute when his shot went in after a deflection from Anthony Fernandes' back putting Churchill Brothers in front. David Booth Coached side Mumbai FC could have conceeded another goal in the 38th minute when a misunderstanding between the stoppers Peter Siddique and James Dissiramah gave a chance to Savio Monteiro, who was left unmarked on the right flank, his cross for Odafe was just off target which could have spelt danger for Mumbai FC. But Odafe added further misery to the Mumbai side when he scored in the 44th minute after a wonderful through pass by Ogba Kalu Nnanna putting it perfectly between the two defenders, Odafe made no mistake to double his teams lead just before the lemon break. With the end of first half whistle Churchill had already placed themselves in the driver seat. Savio Monteiro scored the third goal for his team after a through pass by Vasum, Savio missed the target in the first attempt, and his shot hit the post but fortunately landed again for him and he scored in the second attempt in the 71st minute. Mumbai FC's Noel Wilson scored the lone goal for his side in the 76th minute through penalty after Aseem Kutty was brought down by Ashley Fernandes in the penalty area. The new Churchill Brothers coach Emeka Ezugo, who took over from Karim Bencharifa, seemed to be happy with his team performance and said that, "it was crucial to get three points from this match, and we did that. I am very much satisfied with the team performance." Commenting on the hot and humid conditions he said that, " due to unsuitable climate, the game surely suffers." On the other hand dejected by his team performance, Mumbai FC coach David Booth said that, "it was not a good performance by the team, the first goal was a messy one which gave Churchill the advantage, we are here to gain experience before the I-League." For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Quarterfinal League Group A | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 14.00 IST Mahindra United 3-0 Army XI Goals: 1-0 M Mohammed Rafi (38'), 2-0 Chidi Edeh (41'), 3-0 Djidjia Douhou Pierre (50' pen) MAHINDRA UNITED: 1-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury; 7-Sushanth Mathew, 14-Dharmaraj Ravanan, 21-Justin Stephen, 4-Krishnan Nair Ajayan; 12-Manjit Singh (59' 19-Izumi Arata), 17-Sukhwinder Singh, 29-Djidjia Douhou Pierre, 8-Paresh Shivalkar (73' 15-Khangemban Thoi Singh); 11-M Mohammed Rafi (64' 28-Sushil Kumar Singh), 10-Chidi Edeh Unused Substitutes: 22-Amit Nandi, 3-Manas Das, 5-Harpreet Singh, 16-Sunil Kumar, 20-Bhola Prasad ARMY XI: 1-Robikanta Singh; 2-KP Kabui, 4-Nogen Lama, 5-Dileep M, 19-Lalraiteela, 17-Laldingliana, 21-Somanth Das (44' 6-Thirunavakarsu), 8-Gordon Z (84' 15-Sudhit Mishra), 13-Mahesh Rai, 9-MG Ramachandran, 7-Nguernilal Hmar (74' 10-Sochungmi Raleng) Unused Substitutes: 3-Bijen Bondra, 11-Vijay Thapa, 12-Avijit Biswas, 24-H Jembo Singh, 30-Kazi Zaman YELLOW CARDs: none REFEREE: OP Thakur (Jharkhand) ASSISTANT REFEREES: Mohammed Kamil (Delhi), Nazir Ahmed (Jammu&Kashmir) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Sunil Dutt (Delhi) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: Mahindra United started their 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup campaign with an impressive win in the quarterfinal league by defeating Army XI 3-0. The two time champions and three times runners-up looked good and fit after a five weeks pre-season camp in Goa. Playing their first competitive match of the season Mahindra United outplayed Army XI in every department of the game. Chidi Edeh and Paresh Shivalkar, the two new members of Mahindra United team, gave the team an edge over their rivals who were in good nick. It was a total team effort by the Mumbai side, especially their stoppers Dharmaraj Ravanan and Justine Stephen stood like a wall and didn't allowed the Army XI to execute any of their moves. The Derrick Pereira coached side did take some time to score their first goal but once they broke the deadlock, they took full control of the match. Derrick Pereira said, "it was really important for us to get three points especially playing in this humid and hot condition, our team played well today and will like to keep the momentum going." Mahindra United got their first goal through Mohammad Rafi who headed Djidjia Douhou Pierre's corner in the near post to give his team the desired lead in the 38th minute. Chidi Edeh made it 2-0 after a fine pair of passing between Paresh Shivalkar and Mohammed Rafi, Rafi who further passed the ball to an unmarked Chidi, who netted the ball with ease in the 41st minute. Until halftime Mahindra United were well placed in the game. It was a difficult condition to play football in the capital with the hot and humid climate and almost all teams felt that. Mahindra United confirmed their victory in the 50th minute when Rafi was brought down by KP Kabui in the penalty area, the referee made no hesitation to give a penalty in favour of Mahindra United. And Djidjia Douhou Pierre scored from the spot kick to make it 3-0. Army though tried to come back into the game but due to failure of their midfield and their strikers they were not able to do so. Even their defenders were not able to mark the Mahindra United strikers which resulted in a dismal performance by the Armymen. With the win Mahindra United are well placed in the group I and have a good chance to qualify for the semifinals. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

::: I-League from September 26, Federation Cup in Delhi/Gurgaon in December :::
The second edition of the I-League will kickoff on September 26 as per a decision taken by the AIFF after meeting the participating clubs and state associations today.
The AIFF agreed to a two week postponement on a request from the IFA (West Bengal), who are now able to finish their Calcutta Premier League engagements before the I-League finally starts.
The I-League is likely to kick-off with East Bengal Club taking on new entrants Chirag United SC on Friday, September 26 at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta.
The I-League committee will meet again next week to decide the fixtures and prize money. The clubs have asked the federation to hand out prize to five instead of only three teams.
It was also decided that the final round of the 30th Federation Cup would be played in Delhi and Gurgaon from December 4 to 22. The final round will see the 12 I-League teams and four zonal qualifiers play out the champion. The two stage zonal qualifiers will be held in the next couple of month's.

::: The Foster's Times Cup in Goa :::
The Foster's Times Cup, sponsored by Foster's Packaged Drinking Water and The Times of India with the support of the Goa FA, is specifically targeted at amateur footballers within the state of Goa. This is going to be a one of its kind event which is sure to invoke passion and frenzy throughout every taluka of Goa.
The Foster's Times Cup tournament will be a 7 A-Side football championship played under three categories - Open, Veterans (Above 40 years) and Women. The rules which are strictly enforced will be structured in a manner to ensure that no professional footballers play. The Foster's Times Cup will be played in accordance to FIFA Laws of the game except where some of the rules will be altered to make the game more friendly and easy. It will be managed by the Foster's Times Cup Committee whose decision relating to any aspect of the fiesta shall be final and binding on all the teams. Each team will have a maximum 10 players including substitutes and one of the players will also officiate as the Team Manager. A playing team will consist of seven players only (6 Players & 1 Goalkeeper).
During the span of the championship, there will be invitation of entries which will be followed up by three zonal rounds from the last week of August to the first week of September. The zonals will culminate into the quarterfinals and the semifinals soon after that. The Finals are to be held on the September 13 at The Chowgule Artificial turf in Margao. The winning team will receive Rs.51,000 and The Foster's Times Cup for their club.

Below is the schedule of matches, out of which the first zonals saw a registration of more than 30 teams:
First Zone - August 23/24: Poriat Football Ground, Calangute
Second Zone - August 30/31: Dr. Remegio Pinto Football Ground, Taligao
Third Zone - September 6/7: Chowgule Artificial turf, Margao
Pre-Quarterfinals, Semifinals - September 12: Chowgule Artificial turf, Margao
Finals & Celebrity Match - September 13: Chowgule Artificial turf, Margao

August 28

RESULTS & NEWS

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Quarterfinal League Group B | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 16.00 IST JCT, Phagwara 3-1 Sporting Clube de Goa Goals: 0-1 Lavino Fernandes (12'), 1-1 Baljit Singh Sahni (24'), 2-1 Pawan Kumar (29'), 3-1 Baldeep Singh Sr (75') JCT: 1-Karanjit Singh; 2-Jaspal Singh, 3-Anwar Ali, 4-Julius Irabor Akpele, 12-Daljit Singh; 6-Baljit Singh Sahni, 7-Jagpreet Singh (60' 19-Randeep Singh), 13-Baldeep Singh Sr (80' 17-Amandeep Singh), 27-Baldeep Singh Jr; 22-Pawan Kumar, 10-Eduardo da Silva Escobar Unused Substitutes: 31-Prasanta Dora, 5-Narinder Singh, 8-Jaswinder Singh, 9-Balwant Singh, 14-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 24-Gurwinder Singh, 25-Sakatar Singh SPORTING CLUBE DE GOA: 1-Felix D'Souza; 4-Chinta Chandrashekhar Rao, 6-Philip Gomes, 24-N Samananda Singh, 7-Harmanjot Singh Khabra, 27-Lairenjam Bisheshwor Singh (71' 37-Anthony D'Souza), 22-Joseph Pereira, 14-Wilton Gomes, 26-Micky Fernandes, 12-Lavino Fernandes (45' 9-Freddy Mascarenhas) Unused Substitutes: 31-Gerald D'Mello, 16-Waikhom Ngouba Singh, 25-Khwairakpam Rojit Singh, 28-Singam Rojen Singh, 29-Thoudam Joychandra Singh, 33-Rovan Pereira, 35-Thounaojam Sangkar Singh YELLOW CARDs: Steven Fernandes (78'), N Singh (87', both Sporting Clube) REFEREE: Dinesh Nair (Gujarat) ASSISTANT REFEREES: A Arjunan (Services), SB Saha (Delhi) FOURTH OFFICIAL: BS Negi (Delhi) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: Braving the heat and humid conditions Phagwara's JCT registered a thumping 3-1 win over I-league rivals Sporting Clube de Goa in their first match of the quarterfinal league in the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup. Playing their first competitive match of the season JCT could have not asked for a better start than this. JCT mixed with young and matured players had controll over the match but they were taken aback by the Goans when Lavino Fernandes scored an early goal in the 12th minute. Despite trailing with one goal in the first 15 minutes JCT came back strongly to snatch the game from Sporting Clube de Goa. But before Lavino's goal JCT got a golden opportunity to put themselves in the drivers seat in the 2nd minute when Brazilian Eduardo da Silva Escobar's freekick almost found its way into the goal and a rebound by keeper Felix D'Souza couldn't be put in by Indian international Baldeep Singh Jr and hit it to the bar post. A golden chance miss by the Sukhwinder Singh coached side soon cost them when Lavino scored in the 12th minute after Karanjit Singh failed to collect an Anwar Ali pass which gave Lavino the chance to score the first goal for his team. JCT replied strongly in the 24th min when Baljit Singh Sahni scored the equalizer in the 24th minute from his right foot, his brilliant shot gave no chance to Sporting Clube de Goa goalkeeper Felix to react. JCT soon made it 2-1 when an Eduardo cross found Pawan Kumar who placed the ball in the net with ease in the 29th minute. With two goals in the first half JCT were on top of the game, they could have scored the third goal just before the lemon break through stopper Anwar Ali but his head just went over the bar post after a brilliant cross from Eduardo in the 44th minute. The Brazilian was in full flow and was troubling Sporting Clube de Goa with his sharp crosses. Sporting Clube did try to come back but their finishing was not up to the mark. New Sporting Clube coach Vishwas Gaonkar was not happy with his strikers and said that, "yes our finishing was not good, though we made good moves but unless you score a goal that is of no use." JCT went on to score the third goal in the 75th minute when Baldeep Singh Jr showed his class after a defensive lapse by the Goans which gave a chance to Eduardo to pass the ball to Baldeep, who was left unmarked by the left wing back Harmanjot Singh Khabra, and the Indian international took a shot on the far post leaving keeper Felix astonished. With Baldeep's goal JCT sealed an impressive victory. Commenting on the victory JCT coach Sukhvinder Singh said that, "playing in this humid condition and getting three points is a crucial one for us, we played better and would like to keep the momentum going on." JCT now have a good chance to qualify for the semifinals after the goalless draw between TFA and Air-India. JCT will hope to continue their good form and book a place early for the semifinal by defeating TFA in their next match. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Quarterfinal League Group B | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 14.00 IST Air-India 0-0 Tata Football Academy Goals: none AIR-INDIA: 30-Sarath EC; 2-Haobijam Napoleon Singh, 4-Syed Farid, 6-Leishangthem Uttam Singh, 29-Udofia Chiukwama, 3-Ravinder Singh, 14-Gouranga Biswas (56' 18-Vijith Shetty), 11-Hringsolal Thomte, 10-Soccor Velho, 8-Kumar Samson Singh (54' 12-Singam Subhash Singh), 27-Bashiree Mohammed Abbas (72'22-Surojit Roy) Unused Substitutes: 24-Arup Debnath, 7-Bijay Basfore, 19-Santosh Kohli, 26-Amrit Pal Singh TATA FOOTBALL ACADEMY: 1-Jagroop Singh; 2-Daniel Albert, 3-Raju Gaikwad, 12-Hardeep Singh, 16-Gurjinder Singh, 9-Robin Singh, 6-Subodh Kumar, 7-Jagannath Sana, 10-Jagtar Singh, 17-Prakash Deepak (60' 11-Sheikh Mustakim), 14-Niroshan Mani (69' 22-Z Stamhanghal) Unused Substitutes: 21-Ishant Debnath, 8-Dipankar Goldar, 15-George Alwin, 18-Ramandeep Singh, 20-Ravinder Singh, 23-Chingkhei Meetei, 25-Abhishek Das YELLOW CARDs: Ravinder Singh (2'), Udofia Chiukwama (70', both Air-India) REFEREE: Bikramjit Purkayastha (Delhi) ASSISTANT REFEREES: Minangshu Bhattacharya (West Bengal), AK Ghosh (Delhi) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Ratheesh Kumar (Services) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: The Tata Football Academy held Air-India to a goalless draw in the first match of the Quarterfinal league of the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup. Playing in hot and humid conditions both the teams were not able put up their best show today. The match was evenly poised and both the teams had an equal number of opportunities but both teams weren't able to break the deadlock. The Bimal Ghosh coached side were forced to split the points with the young guns of TFA. After defeating Salgaocar SC in the pre-quarterfinal league, the Carlton Chapman coached side gained a lot of confidence and continued their spirited performance to hold Air-India. Air-India got their first chance in just the 4th minute but Bashiree Mohammed Abbas head was off target after a fine cross from the right flank by the new Air-India captain Haobijam Napoleon Singh. Napoleon kept troubling TFA with his crosses and was in also good nick. TFA got their first chance through Jagtar Singh when his bicycle kick just went over the crossbar from Jagannath Sana's corner in the 15th minute. Jagtar Singh came close to scoring in the 27th minute but his right footer was brilliantly saved by the Air-India goalkeeper Sarath EC. On the other hand Air-India replied strongly in the 33rd minute and almost got their first goal through Soccor Velho whose header clipped the bar post after fine work done by the left wing-back Ravinder Singh who further provided the cross. The first half ended in a goalless draw. After the lemon break it was expected that Air-India would be able to pull off a goal but they disappointed the crowd. Their two strikers Samson Singh and Bashiree Mohammed Abbas were not in the best of form and were clearly marked by the TFA defenders. With the introduction of Subhash Singh and Vijith Sheety in the second half, Air-India did find speed in their attack and regularly tried to score a goal but the TFA defenders especially Raju Giakwad was very impressive today along with TFA goalkeeper Jagroop singh. Jagroop Singh made a fine save in the 56th minute after Gouranga Biswas made a fine run into the penalty area, he then passed the ball to Bashiree whose shot was saved by the TFA keeper to keep their hopes alive in the match. Napoleon provided another cross in the 85th minute but Udofia Chiukwama failed to head the ball inside the frame and his head went over the bar post. It's now a must win situation for both the teams in their next match if they want to make it into the semifinals, a small mistake could mean their exit from the Durand Cup. Even Air-India coach Bimal Ghosh admitted after the match that his strikers were out of touch and said that, "our strikers were not at their best, we expected lot from them ," he further added, "it was not a bad performance, it was very hot and humid today and we practiced a lot in rainy condition." For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

Calcutta Premier League: Mohammedan Sporting Club 1-0 George Telegraph SC - Goals: 1-0 Mike Okoro (82').
Mohammedan Sporting: ??-Manas Barua; 23-Rajib Ghosh, 4-Subhas Mondal, 3-Vinu Jose, 30-Bijoy Das; 8-Satyajit Bose (67' 26-Gautam Thakur), 34-Lalchhuan Awma, 7-Roque Barreto (78' 16-Sovan Chakraborty), ??-Kongreikham Duidang (23' ??-Tapan Giri); 27-A Jyothi Kumar, 10-Mike Okoro [C].
George Telegraph: 21-Swarup Das; 3-Suman Dey, 23-Safar Sardar, 6-Debkumar Sashmal, Biswajit Saha; 17-Beokhokhai (79' 9-Mithun Saha), 12-Gautam Debnath, 7-Subho Kumar, 15-Pradip Roy;; 10-Freebone Ipekere (83' ??-Swapan Mandi), 11-Francis Chibueze Maduako [C].
Man of the Match: Mike Okoro (Mohammedan Sporting).
Referee: Biplab Poddar.

Calcutta Super Division: Indian Air Force 0-0 Police AC
Calcutta Super Division: Bengal-Nagpur Railway 0-1 Calcutta Customs
Calcutta Super Division: Eastern Railway SC 1-0 Mohammedan AC
Calcutta Super Division: Tollygunge Agragami 0-1 West Bengal Police

Guwahati Super Division: Jewel Star Club 0-3 SAI, Guwahati - Goals: 0-1 Kaushik Narzary (9'), 0-2 Bipul Khanikar (13'), 0-3 Lanka Basumatary (81').

::: NP Pradeep/Steven Dias case: AIFF instructs Mahindra, East Bengal to resolve transfer issue :::
The AIFF Player's Status Committee meeting was held today at the Football House, Dwarka in New Delhi to discuss and decide pending transfers. The five member committee was chaired by KP Sunny with vice-chairman Antonio Bothelo, SA Rahman, Kehar Singh and Debashish Banerjee all attending.
The decision on the transfer issue of Indian internationals Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep and Steven Benedict Dias were the one's that everyone was looking forward to. Both players are still under contract with Mahindra United, Pradeep until 2009 and Dias until 2010. Still they decided to sign for East Bengal Club this summer, claiming that Mahindra United would release them from their contract if they got a better offer elsewhere.
The AIFF Player's Status Committee decided that the two clubs have been given time until September 5 to discuss and try to solve the pending issue, if no solution is found then the transfers would be null and void. Then both Pradeep and Steven Dias would have to play for Mahindra United this year.

In other pending transfers Indian international goalkeeper Subhashish Roy Chowdhury would continue with Mahindra United as his transfer to Chirag United SC was rejected.
The transfer of goalkeeper Tharangachan from Indian National FC, Delhi to Mohammedan Sporting Club has been cleared.
Gurpreet Singh's transfer from SAI East, Calcutta to JCT, Punjab was cleared.
Other smaller transfers were cleared or rejected with two players in serious trouble for signing for two separate clubs.

::: Former India captain Sailen Manna critically ill:::
PTI report: Padmashree awardee Indian football legend Sailen Manna is critically ill and undergoing treatment at the AMRI hospital in Saltlake. The 83-year-old former India defender had fractured his right leg after in his residence on August six followed by a surgery at the SSKM Hospital. The former Olympian was discharged on Monday (August 25) but within five hours of returning home he developed complications with high fever, his wife Ava said.
"He even stopped talking and was immediately rushed to AMRI where he was admitted at the ICCU. His situation had become worse. He is still critical and undergoing treatment. However, he has been shifted from ICU but is under observation," Ava told PTI.
Manna was also a member of the first-ever Indian football team on an overseas tour that took part in the London Olympics. Playing barefoot, India lost to France 1-2 with Manna squandering a crucial penalty. He led India won the gold medal in the inaugural Asian Games in 1951. He has also led India to four successive titles in the South East Asian quadrangular meet.
Having started his football career with the second division Howrah Union in the Calcutta League, Manna joined Mohun Bagan in 1942 and remained with the green-and-maroon brigade for the rest of his career.

::: 21 top teams for 6th Administrator's Challenge Cup ::
Three local and 18 prominent outstation teams will be seen in action in the 6th Administrator's Challenge Cup All-India Football Tournament for Under-17, being organised by the Chandigarh Sports Department from September 1 to 9. The tournament has the approval of the AIFF.
Steadfast Sports Academy, Mumbai; Mahindra United, Mumbai; Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy, West Bengal; Bihar Football Association; and IFA Football Academy, West Bengal; are taking part for the first time in the Administrator's Challenge Cup.
Chandigarh Sports Director-cum-Additional Deputy Commissioner Inderjit Singh Sandhu told newsmen here today that the teams had been divided into four groups and winners of each group would make it to the semifinals.
The league matches will be played at the Sector 42 Football Ground and the Sector 17 Football Stadium. Both semifinals, scheduled for September 8 and the final on September 9. will be played at the Sector 17 Football Stadium.
Services Football XI are the defending champions. New Public School Academy, Sector 18, Chandigarh are runners-up.
Chandigarh Football Academy, which is run by the Chandigarh Administration, will begin campaign with their opening group A match against Steadfast Sports Academy of Mumbai at the Sector 17 Football Stadium at 4 pm.
Mr Sandhu said that all arrangements had been completed and the various committees formed for the smooth conduct of the tournament had been working hard. Free boarding and lodging (Rs 100 per head per day) during stay of the teams at the venue of the tournament to 18 players and two officials will be given. To and fro rail fare will also be given to the participating teams.
The AIFF observer/commissioner can refer any player, who appears to be overage, to the medical committee which will examine the concerned player. And if required, it can take magnetic resonance image (MRI) to ascertain the correct age. A player born on or after January 1, 1992 is eligible to take part in the tournament.
Mr Sandhu said that a disciplinary committee would be headed by match commissioner or a disciplinary representative appointed by the AIFF. The disciplinary panel will comprise match commissioner, referee/instructor and a representative of the state football association.

The following are the groupings:
Group A: Tamil Nadu Football Association; Orissa Football Association: Chandigarh Football Academy, Madhya Pradesh Football Association; Haryana Football Association.
Group B: Cantonment Board Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar Cantonment; Mahindra United, Mumbai; Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy, West Bengal; J&K Football Association; Bihar Football Association.
Group C: Mizoram SSA Football XI; Services Football XI; Punjab Football Association; Himachal Pradesh Football Association; St. Stephen's School Football Academy, Chandigarh.
Group D: Delhi Soccer Association; Chhattisgarh Football Association; Mahilpur Football Academy, Hoshiarpur; IFA Football Academy, West Bengal; New Public School Academy, Chandigarh.

Joint Director Dr JPS Sidhu and Chandigarh FA secretary Rakesh Bakshi were present during the press conference.
Gen (Retd) SF Rodrigues, Governor of Punjab and Administrator Union Territory, Chandigarh will inaugurate the tournament on September 1 while Adviser to the Chandigarh Administrator Pardip Mehra will distribute the prizes on September 9.

::: Lawrence School owe it to Karan ::
Hosts Lawrence School of Sanawar, Himachal Pradesh prevailed over plucky Sherwood College from Nainital by 2-1 in a hotly-contested final of the 11th Bhupinder Singh Memorial Soccer Tournament here today.
Formidable Lawrence School were pre-match favourites as they had beaten their arch rivals from Nainital by 3-1 on the opening day of the three-day tournament.
The first half remained unproductive. However, the teams treated the fans with fine soccer in the closing stages of the game. Both teams waged a now-or-never battle in the evently contested title clash. Though it was a team work which pave the way for the hosts' well-earned victory, Lawrence School owed it to talented striker Karan who scored a brace.
It was Lawrence School which drew the first blood through Karan in the 54th minute. With excitment mounting in the closing stages, the spectators watched the proceedings from with their fingers crossed. The last two minutes produced two eye-pleasing goals. With Lawrence School leading 1-0, the ball moved from one end to another as the teams launched attacks and counter attacks.
In desperate need plucky Sherwood College mounted terrific pressure for the equaliser. They succeeded in neutralising the lead in the 69th minute through A Raghuvanshi. Lawrence School were quick to retaliate. Just before the long whistle, Karan dodged past the host of defenders before unleashing his shot which kept the Sherwood goalkeeper rooted at one place.
Munjal of Lawrence School was declared the best goalkeeper. The best player's award went to Sanghera, also of Lawrence School. Sherwood College striker A Radhuvanshi was adjudged the top scorer of the tournament, with five goals to his credit.
Yadvindra Public School of Patiala Principal Staleny Vinod Kumar gave away the prizes.

The semifinal matches were played in the morning session. In the first semifinal, Lawrence School edged past Bishop Cotton School of Shimla 1-0. Penjo snatched the all-important goal in the 20th minute. Lawrence School were awarded a penalty as their striker was fouled inside the box. Penjo made no mistake in converting it. The second semifinal between Pinegrove School, Subathu and Sherwood College of Nainital was decided in tie-breaker session. Sherwood College won by an aggregate margin of 3-1. In the regulation period the teams played a one-all draw. Karan Solanki gave Pinegrove School lead in the 58th minute while A Raghuvanshi scored the equalizer in the 64th minute for Sherwood. In the tie-breaker session Jagati and S Lala converted spot kicks for Sherwood College while Pinegrove School failed to convert any of the four spot kicks.

August 27

RESULTS & NEWS

Guwahati Super Division: FCI, Guwahati 1-0 Sunrise Club - Goal: 1-0 Aronjit Brahma (81' pen).
Guwahati Super Division: ASEB, Guwahati 3-0 Maharana AC = Maharana didn't field a team for the match

3rd Manipur State League: NISA, Thangmeiband 3-1 NLYC, Churachandpur
3rd Manipur State League: YWC, Thambalkhong 0-1 NEROCA
3rd Manipur State League: Tiddim Road Athletic Union 1-0 Eastern Sporting Union
3rd Manipur State League: Southern Sporting Union 0-0 AMOFA, Moirang
3rd Manipur State League: USA, Khurai 0-0 Manipur Police SC
3rd Manipur State League: TRUGPU, Nambol 0-0 Phoudel Youth Club, Thoubal

::: Chandigarh U16 trials on August 30 :::
The Chandigarh FA is conducting selection trials on August 30 at 4.30 p.m. at the DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8 in Chandigarh. Players born on after January 1, 1994 are eligible to take part in the trials.
According to Chandigarh FA secretary Rakesh Bakshi, 25 probables will be selected during trials for coaching camp in preparation for Chandigarh's participation in the 31st Sub-Junior National Under-16 Championships for the Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy to be played in Mahilpur, Punjab from September 20 to October 6. Sports Authority of India coach Narinder Thapa will be in charge of the camp
The Chandigarh U16 team will be finalized during the camp. Chandigarh have been placed in cluster VI along with Karnataka, Assam and Manipur. Chandigarh play their first match against Karnataka on September 21. Their next qualifying cluster matches are against Manipur on September 23 and Assam on September 25.
Meanwhile the hosts Punjab have been clubbed with Pondicherry and Nagaland in cluster IV. Punjab will meet Pondicherry on September 20 and Nagaland on September 24 in their qualifying cluster matches.

August 26

RESULTS & NEWS

In the latest IndianFootball.Com Guest Column by Arun S Devarajan titled "Why football academies should be the way forward for AIFF" he looks at what the task of the AIFF should be to develop talent.
Read the complete article here >>IndianFootball.Com Guest Column - Arun S Devarajan .

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Pre-Quarterfinal League Group A | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 16.00 IST Army Service Corps 0-3 Assam Rifles Goals: 0-1 Meikengai Kumai (32'), 0-2 Akum Ao (71'), 0-3 Santa Singh (87') ARMY SERVICE CORPS: 31-AK Balwani; 2-Suresh Marei, 19-S Tudu, 3-Shibu K, 15-I Chaudhary, 7-Rakesh Singh, 18-Sourav Das, 8-A Ramesh, 9-N Karthik, 10-Nitesh Bareilly, 11-M Thayagarajan Unused Substitutes: 1-Rajesh MV, 4-Kiran K Varghese, 5-D Sudhir Kumar, 6-Vetri Tamilian, 12-Ashish S, 13-N.Bhattacharya, 14-Maria Joseph, 20-Shantanu Kar, 22-Amarjith C ASSAM RIFLES: 1-L Lokeshwar Singh; 12-Herojit Singh, 2-Oman Kuttan, 5-Nauba Singh, 4-D Mukhim, 9-Abel Sema, 10-Santa Singh, 6-T Thaiba Singh, 17-Ajit Kumar, 16-M Bulu Jigdung, 11-Meikengai Kumai (60' 7-Akum Ao) Unused Substitutes: 3-N Gupin Singh, 8-Johnly Kharlukhi, 14-B Das, 15-Pijendra Singh, 18-Omkar Rana, 28-Satvinder Singh YELLOW CARDs: none REFEREE: Sitendu Saha (Delhi) ASSISTANT REFEREES: Nazir Ahmed (Jammu&Kashmir), BS Negi (Delhi) FOURTH OFFICIAL: KK Rakshit (Delhi) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: In an inconsequential match of the pre-quarterfinal league Assam Rifles defeated Army Service Corps, Bangalore by 3-0 to finish second in Group I. Assam Rifles were already out of the hunt to qualify for the quarterfinal league of the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup. Assam Rifles who were semifinalist in 2005 saw an early exit from the tournament this time around. Though they won the match comprehensively by three goals but even that was not enough for them to make it to the quarterfinal league. Army Service Corps, Bangalore on the other hand had a very bad tournament and conceded 13 goals in just three matches. Army Service Corps was surely the weakest team in this stage of the tournament and every team took the full advantage of that. They never were able to fight back and were on the back foot right from the start of every game. This is a great lesson for the team as well as to the players to assess their performance in professional football. Assam Rifles opened their account in the 32nd minute through Meikengai Kumai who tapped the ball over the ASC goalkeepers head after a defensive lapse by ASC defenders following a Thaiba Singh's cross from the left. ASC got a chance to equalise in the 39th minute but N Karthik was not able to place the ball into the net after an excellent cross from the left flank by M Thayagarajan. Until half time it was 1-0 in favour of Assam Rifles. ASC, Bangalore's approach towards every game was not impressive and they never troubled their rivals in any of the matches. They went on to concede two more goals in the second half to finish their Durand Cup campaign in a very miserable way. Akum Ao scored the second goal in the 71st minute from a Thaiba Singh cross from the left flank to make it 2-0 while Santa Singh made it 3-0 in the 87th minute from an Akum Ao cross, though the goalkeeper tried to save at the first attempt but his rebound gave Santa Singh another chance to net in easily. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Pre-Quarterfinal League Group A | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 14.00 IST Army XI 2-1 New Delhi Heroes Goals: 0-1 Manish Khatri (35'), 1-1 Gordon Z (66'), 2-1 N Ramachandran (81') ARMY XI: 1-Robikanta Singh; 2-KP Kabui, 4-Nogen Lama, 5-Dileep M, 19-Lalraiteela, 17-Laldingliana, 16-LN Munda (34' 6-Thirunavakarsu), 8-Gordon Z, 13-Mahesh Rai, 9-MG Ramachandran (85' 11-Vijay Thapa), 10-Sochungmi Raleng (30' 7-Nguernilal Hmar) Unused Substitutes: 3-Bijen Bondra, 12-Avijit Biswas, 15-Sudhit Mishra, 21-Somanth Das, 24-H Jembo Singh, 30-Kazi Zaman NEW DELHI HEROES: 1-Baljinder Singh;27-Stanley, 5-Rotdingson, 7-Bhuvan Krishna Joshi, 14-Marlanki Suting (45' 21-Romeo Sukhlein), 11-Barister Rymbat, 9-Nirmaldeep (65' 3-Pawan Kumar), 30-Amjad Ali Khan, 19-Manish Khatri, 10-Nagen Tamang, 13-Itauê de Oliveira Rosa (73' 8-Sumit Yadav) Unused Substitutes: 12-Rashid Mehdi, 6-Prashant Jaggi, 15-Jiten Rai, 18-B Ralte, 20-Hamza Zaheer Abbas, 24-Manoj Joshi YELLOW CARDs: none REFEREE: Pratap Singh (Services) ASSISTANT REFEREES: Dinesh Nair (Gujarat), Minangshu Bhattacharya (West Bengal) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Mohammed Kamil (Delhi) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: Army XI continued their good run in the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup and went on defeat New Delhi Heroes by 2-1 to book a place in the quarterfinal league. Army XI is now in Group II along with I-League teams Mahindra United, defending champions Churchill Brothers SC and newly promoted Mumbai FC. The campaign of the New Delhi Heroes came to an end in this edition's Durand Cup after putting up a spirited performance in the tournament and at one point it looked like they would take the game away from Army XI. Despite having an early lead in the first half the ND Heroes failed to maintain the lead and conceeded two goals in the second half. The Chima Okorie coached side never looked offensive and most of the times were on defending their own goalline. The game was crucial for both the teams. Army XI needed just a one point to qualify for the quarterfinal league, while on the other hand it was a must win situation for the Delhi league champions. As expected it was a close one, Army XI with six points from two games had an upper hand while Heroes had only three from as many matches. The New Delhi Heroes got an early goal in the 8th minute through their Brazilian Itauê de Oliveira Rosa but he was ruled offside. The Heroes finally broke the jinx in the 35th minute through a set piece when Amjad Ali Khan's freekick was brilliantly headed in by Manish Khatri to give his team the desired lead. Manish Khatri was definitely the best player for the ND Heroes in the tournament and also is a great prospect for Chima Okorie's side, he scored three goals for his teams in as many matches. Army though tried to score the equaliser in the first half itself but failed to do so and the first half ended in favour of the ND Heroes. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

Calcutta Premier League: Mohun Bagan AC 1-0 Railway FC - Goals: 1-0 Habibur Rehman Mondal (43').
Mohun Bagan: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 14-Peter Odafe, 4-Deepak Kumar Mondal (90+3' 3-Nanjangud Shivananju Manju), 26-Nallappan Mohanraj; 7-Lal Kamal Bhowmick [C] (77' 8-Tapan Maity), 20-Rakesh Masih, 25-Sargolsem James Singh, 19-Shylo Malswam Tulunga; 9-Pachau Lalam Puia, 22-Kartick Kisku (88' 23-Lalramluaha).
Railway FC: 1-Rakesh Prasad; 22-Muzaffar Rehman, 4-Sangram Mandi, 16-Sundar Mandi, 25-Hira Roy, 15-Munna Mallick, 14-Gaurav Dutta (57' Swarnava Barua), 8-Santosh Oraon, 28-Dinesh Swar (80' Palash Karmakar), 24-Sankha Roy Chowdhury (39' Kaltu Hembram), 9-Suraj Mondal [C].
Man of the Match: Kartick Kisku (Mohun Bagan).
Referee: Barun Saha.

Calcutta Premier League: Chirag United SC 1-1 Calcutta Port Trust - Goals: 0-1 Rajib Ekka (4'), 1-1 Soumik Chakraborty (90+8').
Yellow-Red Cards: Suabir Muritala Ali (Chirag United); Simanta Das (Calcutta Port Trust).
Referee: Dilip Ghosh.

Guwahati Super Division: Assam Police Blues 3-3 Assam Dynamo Club - Goals: 1-0 Anuj Gogoi (17'), 2-0,3-3 Rabijit Jigdung (65',86'), 2-1,2-2,2-3 Lalrimfela (70',73' pen,80').

5th Girls' under-17 National Football Championships, Haldwani - Final: Manipur 2-0 Orissa - Goals: 1-0 S Tejibala Devi (58'),2-0 E Bindyarani Devi (72').

::: ONGC to continue as I-League title sponsors :::
Today a Function was held in New Delhi to thank ONGC for their support to Indian football and its players for bringing glory to India for their recent successes in the "ONGC" Nehru Cup and the AFC Challenge Cup.
AIFF president on the occasion thanked ONGC for their support of the Nehru Cup and the I-League. He also praised the national team and chief coach Bob Houghton for achieving the qualification for the 2011 Qatar Asian Cup.
"India realized the dream of playing in Asian Cup after a long time. This was made possible by the players under the leadership of Baichung and Chief Coach Bob Houghton," Mr. Das Munhsi said.
After the success of Team India and the national team playing the big boys of Asian football in a little over two years, Mr. Das Munshi urged the corporate sector to invest in Indian football and help raise the standard.
"We need attention from the Corporate sector in terms of building infrastructure and for the preparations of the Asian Cup. We have to do well in 2011 and in the next three years we will need at least Rs 2 crore per year for the preparation," he said.
"Indian football is looking up. We are hopeful of India Under-16 team doing well in the AFC Under_16 Championship in Uzbekistan in October and then one club from the country will play in the AFC Champions League next year, so I urge the private sector to take interest in the game," he added.

In an important message the AIFF president said that preparations for the 2011 Qatar Asian Cup would start in right earnest from September after the return of Bob Houghton
"2011 is far away but we have to start from now. We have to hunt talent from all over the country, from the I-League and few other tournaments, consult the ex-players. It will be a big project and the aim is to do well in the Asian Cup."

The AIFF president also announced today that ONGC would continue to be the title sponsor of the I-League, which will go into its second edition this season. But the start of the 2nd eidtion of the I-League is still unknown. The original date of September 14 looks now unlikely...

::: Ryan School lift Chairman Soccer Cup :::
Ryan International School, Sector 49, Chandigarh lifted the Chairman Cup Soccer Tournament after prevailing over robust Delhi Public School of Pinjore by 5-3 on penalties after a goalless draw in the final of the second edition organised by St Xavier's High School, Sector 20, at Satluj Public School ground in Sector 4 here today.
The DPS boys were physically more stronger than their counterparts who displayed better skill and determination. Having more ball possession, the DPS strikers tried their best to penetrate the defence of Ryan International. However, Ryan defenders, especially right stopper Rupam, proved a hard nut to crack. Against the run of play, Ryan International also had a few chances to have a close look at the DPS goal but failed to score.
As the regulation session ended unproductive, the tie-breaker rule was applied. Ryan International converted all their five penalties through Karan, Rupam, Divjot, Gagan and Richiru. For DPS, Qazi, Rohit and Nkkhil converted their spotkicks. Abhinav and Chitterjeet frittered away their chances.
Sahil Dutt was adjudged the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Piyush Dhingra got the best player of the tournament award. Vishaw Srivastava was declared the most promising player.
Earlier, in the first semi-final match, DPS 'A' of Pinjore outplayed Mount Carmel, Sector 47, Chandigarh by 5-0. Qazi (5th, 9th), Alok (13th, 21st) and Chitterjeet (25th) were the winners' scorers.
In the second semi-final, Ryan International Chandigarh defeated DPS 'B' by 2-0. Piyush (22nd) and Gagan (35th) scored one goal each.
Commissioner (Appeals) Customs and Central Excise, Chandigarh, SL Thakur distributed the prizes. Among those present on the occasion were St Xavier's schools Chairman Andrew J Gosain and St Xavier's High School, Sector 20, Panchkula, Georeg S Shear.

August 25

RESULTS & NEWS

In the latest IndianFootball.Com Editor's Column our Harmit Singh Kamboe looks at the successful reign of Bob Houghton as Indian national football coach so far.
Read the complete article here >>IndianFootball.Com Editor's Column .

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Pre-Quarterfinal League Group B | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 16.00 IST Salgaocar SC 0-2 Tata Football Academy Goals: 0-1 Jagtar Singh (58), 0-2 Prakash Deepak (68') SALGAOCAR: 1-Pralay Dutta; 6-Sushil Kisku, 8-Agnelo Colaco, 28-Eduardo Chacon Coelho Lacerda, 18-Denzil Franco; 21-Sachin Gawas (81' 26-Milagres Gonsalves), 22-Hiralal Chetri (35' 7-Bungo Thokchom Singh), 32-Cajetan Fernandes, 14-Jerose Oliveira; 27-Beevan D'Mello, 16-Bijen Singh (61' 11-PK Anil Kumar) Unused Substitutes: 5-Rauf Sher Khan, 17-TV Biju Kumar, 23-William Colaco, 30-Francis Fernandes, 31-Maclas Moraes TATA FOOTBALL ACADEMY: 1-Jagroop Singh; 2-Daniel Albert, 3-Raju Gaikwad, 12-Hardeep Singh, 16-Gurjinder Singh, 9-Robin Singh, 6-Subodh Kumar, 7-Jagannath Sana, 22-Z Stamhanghal (39' 10-Jagtar Singh), 17-Prakash Deepak (80' 11-Sheikh Mustakim), 14-Niroshan Mani Unused Substitutes: 8-Dipankar Goldar, 15-George Alwin, 18-Ramandeep Singh, 20-Ravinder Singh, 21-Ishant Debnath, 23-Chingkhei Meetei, 25-Abhishek Das YELLOW CARDs: Robin Singh (25'), Jagannath Saha (62', both TFA); Beevan D'Mello (82', Salgaocar) REFEREE: A Rowan (Services) ASSISTANT REFEREES: OP Thakur (Jharkhand), A Arjunan (Services) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Govind Kanojia (Delhi) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: The Tata Football Academy dashed the hopes of Salgaocar SC to book a place in the quarterfinal league by defeating them 2-0 in their deciding pre-quarterfinal league match of the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup. The last match of Group B saw a huge upset as Salgaocar were the favourites right from the start of the game. The Subash Bhowmick coached side were not at their best today except Beevan D'Mello who carried on his impressive form in the tournament. The defensive approach by the Goans and not playing the best team available was also major point of their dismal performance today. On the other hand such a spirited performance by TFA came after a lapse of two years in the Durand Cup. It was do or a die match for the Carlton Chapman coached side and the young guns were totally on fire and were on top of the game right from the word go. Salgoacar had a tough time in the field today especially their midfield that has been their backbone in this tournament. Salgaocar just needed a point to qualify for the quarterfinal league but TFA ruined their hopes and left them dejected after a solid start to their season. TFA had more chances in the match in comparison to Salgaocar's. The TFA midfield had good day and especially Subodh Kumar, who is great prospect in the years to come. He almost scored from 35 yards out and took the Salgaocar keeper Pralay Dutta by surprise who was able to tap the ball over the cross bar in the 4th minute. TFA got another chance in 16th minute when Z Stamhanghal shot was again saved by Pralay Dutta. Salgaocar had a lone chance in the first half in the 35th minute when Beevan's cross was hit off target by Bijen Singh. There weren't many goal attempts from both sides in the first half which resulted in a goalless draw. TFA scored both the goals on counter attacks in the second half. TFA broke the jinx in the 58th minute through Jagtar Singh's left-footed shot from the right. TFA doubled their lead in the 68th minute through Prakash Deepak, who scored after an defensive error by the Salgaocar right wingback Denzil Franco. Salgaocar got a golden opportunity to come back into the game in the 73rd minute when substitute PK Anil Kumar was brought down by TFA Stopper Raju Gaikwad resulting in a penalty in favuor of Salgaocar. But their hopes were dashed when Denzil Franco penalty was off target. TFA will hope to continue their same form in the quarterfinal league too. TFA will face I-League sides JCT, Air-India and Sporting Clube de Goa in Group II. TFA will be relying on Subodh Kumar, Jagtar Singh, Jagroop Singh, Prakash Deepak and Raju Gaikwad to continue their fine performance in the Durand Cup. And for the young team anything is now possible. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Pre-Quarterfinal League Group B | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 14.00 IST Border Security Force 1-2 ONGC, Mumbai Goals: 1-0 Kamal Kishore (8'), 1-1,1-2 Tarif Ahmed (32' pen, 50' pen) BORDER SECURITY FORCE: 28-Deepak Kumar Jr; 3-Kabul Singh (72' 10-Sukwinder Singh), 5-Deepak Kumar Sr, 4-Mandeep Singh, 17-PB.Ekka, 7-PH Boy Singh (56' 12-Gurjit Singh Atwal), 26-Santosh Sethi, 18-Amanpreet Singh, 27-Harjit Singh, 9-Kamal Kishore (38' 2-Tapas Bhattacharjee), 11-Avinash Thapa Unused Substitutes: 1-Deepak Hazarika, 6-Sarabjit Singh, 8-Sandeep Kumar, 14-Kulwinder Singh, 15-Raghbir Singh, 20-Amarjit Singh ONGC: 24-Rajat Ghosh Dastidar; 20-Ashirvad Hegde, 32-John Chinedu, 34-N Raghavendran (66' 14-Kaushik Bose), 3-Raghuveer Singh, 18-F Lalmuanpuia (34' 23-Samar Dev), 9-Jatin Singh Bisht, 7-J Muralidharan (61' 8-Somy PT), 28-A Naresh, 10-Tarif Ahmed, 11-Malswamdangliana Unused Substitutes: 1-Prasanjit Ghosh, 2-Dharmesh Patel, 17-Phoolchand Hembram, 19-Dhanesh MC YELLOW CARDs: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar (35', ONGC); Deepak Kumar Sr (50', BSF) REFEREE: Ratheesh Kumar (Services) ASSISTANT REFEREES: P Bikramjit (Delhi), AK Ghosh (Delhi) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Minangsu Bhattacharya (West Bengal) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: Mumbai's ONGC defeated Border Security Force 2-1 in their last and inconsequential pre-quarterfinal league match of the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup. Both the teams were already out of the tournament. This was the worst performance by the seven time champions BSF, who were unable to collect a single point. ONGC riding high on the Indian international Tarif Ahmed's brace, who scored both the goals on penalties to give his team their first victory in the pre-quarterfinal league. BSF, who are currently Punjab State Super League champions started their Durand Cup journey on a high note and defeated their rivals comprehensively in the qualifiers but they were not able to continue that way as they lost all matches in the pre-quarterfinal league. On the other hand ONGC gained some positive vibes as far checking new players and settling their squad is concerned. BSF got an early goal and the perfect start through Kamal Kishore, who has scored the highest number of goals for BSF in the 8th minute when he scored an easy one after a defensive error by ONGC stopper N Raghavendran. Both the dependable ONGC stoppers Gaur Naskar and Amandeep Singh are still pursuing their injuries and the new combination of John Chinedu and N Raghavendran was giving a lot of headache to ONGC coach Sujit Chakraborty .The duo were leaving lots of space in the middle and were often found parallel. ONGC scored the equaliser through Tarif Ahmed in the 32nd minute when Malswamdangliana was brought down by BSF right wingback Kabul Singh resulting in the penalty. Tarif placed the ball in the far corner to score his first goal in the pre-quarterfinal league. BSF got another chance in the 41st minute through Tapas Bhattacharya when his side volley was brilliantly saved by ONGC goalkeeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar. At the end of the first half it was one-all. ONGC went ahead just after the restart in the 50th minute when Tarif was brought down by BSF stopper Deepak Kumar Sr in the 50th minute, which also fetched him a yellow card. Tarif made no mistake to give his team the desired lead and once again placed it beautifully towards the far post. BSF too got a chance to equalise in the second half after another misunderstanding between the ONGC stoppers but substitute Gurjit Singh Atwal missed a sitter in the 60th minute. There was no further attempt by any team and the match ended in favour of ONGC, Mumbai. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

Calcutta Premier League: Mohammedan Sporting Club 0-2 East Bengal Club - Goals: 0-1 Nirmal Chetri (23'), 0-2 Ashim Biswas (27').
Mohammedan Sporting: 1-Naseem Akhtar [C]; 23-Rajib Ghosh, 6-Sheikh Azim, 2-V Prem Kumar, 30-Bijoy Das; 8-Satyajit Bose, 34-Lalchhuan Awma, 16-Sovan Chakraborty (46' 7-Roue Barreto), 17-Tarak Roy (78' 26-Gautam Thakur); 10-Mike Okoro, 11-Theodore Sunday Wrobeh (69' 27-A Jyothi Kumar).
East Bengal: 24-Subrata Pal; 3-Nirmal Chetri, 2-Muttath Suresh [C], 4-Suley Musah, 12-Anupam Sarkar; 19-Syed Rahim Nabi, 7-Jayanta Sen, 28-Chhangte Malswamkima (82' 9-Alvito D'Cunha), 8-Renedy Singh; 10-Ashim Biswas (72' 25-Parveen Kumar), 11-Sunil Chetri.
Yellow Cards: V Prem Kumar (22', Mohammedan Sporting); Anupam Sarkar (22'), Sunil Chetri (68', both East Bengal).
Man of the Match: Ashim Biswas (East Bengal).
Referee: Rathin Mukherjee.

Guwahati Super Division: Sunrise Club 1-0 SAI, Guwahati - Goals: 1-0 Asian Kamer (32').

::: DPS Pinjore, Mount Carmel and Ryan in semifinals :::
Hosts St Xavier's High School of Panchkula went down fighting to Mount Carmel of Chandigarh in tie-breaker by 3-4 in the quarterfinal of the 2nd Chairman's Cup Soccer Tournament being organized by St Xavier's High School, Panchkula at Satluj Public School ground in Sector 4 Panchkula today.
After teams were locked one-all in the regulation period, the tie-breaker rule was applied to break the deadlock. In tie-breaker, Mount Carmel, Sector 47 converted their penalties through Parmesh, Jashanpal Singh Randhawal and Arshdeep. For Xavier's Rishab and Gurnihal converted their spot kicks. In the regulation period, St Xavier's School forged ahead as Rishab found the Mount Carmel defence napping. On crossing over, Mount Carmel neutralized the lead through Jashanpal Randhawa in the 31st minute.

The semifinal line-up: DPS Pinjore vs Ryan International, Chandigarh and DPS 'B' vs Mount Carmel, Chandigarh. Both semifinals will be played in morning while the final is slated for 12.30 p.m tomorrow.

Ryan International blanked Saupin's School, Sector 32, Chandigarh by 2-0 in their quarterfinal match. Gagan opened Ryan's account in the 16th minute while Ruchiru doubled the victory margin with a 34th minute goal.
DPS, Pinjore proved too strong for Yadvindera Public School of Mohali whom they handed out a 5-1 drubbing. Qazi and Sachit contributed a brace each. Qazi scored in the 12th and 25th minutes while Sachit's goals came in the 14th and 26th minutes. Earlier Mudit Gulati had given DPS the lead with a sixth minute goal. The lone goal for YPS came from the boot of Mridul in the fifth minute.
DPS 'B' Pinjore stormed into the semifinal at the expense of Saupin's School of Panchkula whom they beat by 2-0. Aditya Vatds and Prateek found the net in the 4th and 27th minutes, respectively.

Earlier, pre-quarter-final round matches were played. Saupin's School of Chandigarh eked out a hard-fought 1-0 victory over St Anne's School, also of Chandigarh. The all-important goal was scored by Pranshu with a long ranger from the right flank in the 32nd minute. Saupin's could have won the match with a bigger margin had they converted all the chances which came their way. On a number of occasions, their strikers misdirected their shots or shot straight into the hands of Anne's custodian.
Saupin's School of Panchkula scored a facile 3-0 victory over St Xavier's School of Panchkula. Akshay Gulati (3'), Shanu Goel (20') and Maninderjit (22') were their scorers.
Yadvindra Public School of Mohali defeated St Xavier's School of Chandigarh with an aggregate 4-3 margin in tie-breaker after sharing two goals in the regulation period. St Xavier's drew the first blood through Austin in the 5th minute. Kanwar Bhardwaj restored parity for YPS in the 35th minute. Aman Sharma, Vishwapreet and Sehaj Singh converted their penalties as YPS emerge winners. For Xavier's Austin and Ben converted their spot kicks.
Scoring one goal in each half, Ryan International School, Chandigarh defeated Little Flower Convent School by 2-0. Amit (5') and Karan (27') scored one goal each.
Delhi Public School A team routed Satluj Public School Panchkula by 5-0. Chittorjeet was their star performer by netting three goals, no hat-trick. He struck in the 5th and 25th minutes. Sochit also got a brace (6th, 9th minutes). Qazi contributed one goal which he scored in the 14th minute.
DPS B team got the better of Holly Child of Panchkula by a lone goal scored by Aditya Vats in the 12th minute.
The last pre-quarter-final match ended in a walkover for St Xavier's Panchkula as their rivals St Peter's School, Chandigarh played truant.
St Xavier's Schools chairman Andrew J Gosain graced the occasion on the opening day of the tournament.

August 24

RESULTS & NEWS

In the latest IndianFootball.Com Guest Column by Aswin Sambamurthy titled "Coaches" he writes about the need to develop quality coaches across India.
Read the complete article here >>IndianFootball.Com Guest Column - Aswin Sambamurthy .

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Pre-Quarterfinal League Group A | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 16.00 IST Army XI 2-0 Assam Rifles Goals: 1-0 Thirunavakarsu (66'), 2-0 Nguernilal Hmar (69') ARMY XI: 1-Robikanta Singh; 2-KP Kabui, 4-Nogen Lama, 5-Dileep M, 19-Lalraiteela, 17-Laldingliana (78' 11-Vijay Thapa), 16-LN Munda (40' 6-Thirunavakarsu), 8-Gordon Z, 13-Mahesh Rai, 9-MG Ramachandran, 10-Sochungmi Raleng (63' 7-Nguernilal Hmar) Unused Substitutes: 3-Bijen Bondra, 12-Avijit Biswas, 15-Sudhit Mishra, 21-Somanth Das, 24-H Jembo Singh, 30-Kazi Zaman ASSAM RIFLES: 1-L Lokeshwar Singh; 12-Herojit Singh, 2-Oman Kuttan, 5-Nauba Singh, 4-D Mukhim, 9-Abel Sema, 8-Johnly Kharlukhi (39' 10-Santa Singh), 6-T Thaiba Singh, 17-Ajit Kumar, 7-Akum Ao, 16-M Bulu Jigdung (61' 11-Meikengai Kumai) Unused Substitutes: 3-N Gupin Singh, 14-B Das, 15-Pijendra Singh, 18-Omkar Rana, 28-Satvinder Singh YELLOW CARDs: Santa Singh (48', Assam Rifles) REFEREE: Mohammed Kamil (Delhi) ASSISTANT REFEREES: A Rowan (Services), Sunil Dutt (Delhi) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Nazir Ahmed (Jammu&Kashmir) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: Army XI moved an inch closer to book a place in the quarterfinal league by defeating another strong contender Assam Rifles 2-0 in the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup. Army XI showed their class and the different style of play which took their rivals by surprise. Army were in an offensive mood right from the word go and they didn't allow Assam Rifles to get their game plan working. Even though Army XI was the better of the two sides, they had a pretty tough time as far as scoring is concerned. Both their dependable strikers MG Ramachandran and Sochungmi Raleng had a tough day in the field. The later who was the highest scorer in the recent Santosh trophy held in Jammu&Kashmir was not in good touch and missed a couple of very close chances which started giving headache to the Army XI coach. The substitutes Thirunavakarsu and Nguernilal Hmar were the players who gave Army XI an important win. It was not Raleng's day for sure who missed two chances including a sitter in the 29th minute, he got another chance just 30 seconds later but again failed to score for his team. It seems like he was a little under pressure and that was affecting Army XI coach Raghvender Singh's game plan. On the other hand Assam Rifles too had a couple of very close chances but a misunderstanding between Abel Sema and M Bulu Jigdung in the 23rd minute in the penalty area proved a crucial one for the Santanu Basu coached side. Changes in the 40th and 63rd minute with the introduction of Thirunavakarsu and Nguernilal Hmar proved vital for the Army XI who went on two score two goals for their team and gather full points in the crucial match. The speed of Nguernilal Hmar added another advantage to the Army side along with Thirunavakarsu's skills and they were on top of the game right from the start of the second half. Army took the lead in the 66th minute through Thirunavakarsu's goal who netted the ball after a defensive error by the Assam Rifles. Soon after the first goal the Armymen got another chance to go 2-0 when Ramachandran was brought down by D Mukhim in the penalty area, the foul resulted in a penalty in favour of Army XI but Ramachandran failed to score from the penalty and hit the ball directly in the hands of L Lokeshwar Singh, who gave a golden chance for his team to keep their hopes alive .A miss by Ramachandran in the 67th minute was immediately compensated by his team mate Nguernilal Hmar, whose free kick in the 69th minute from 25 yards was just a drawing board goal which took L Lokeshwar Singh by surprise. There were not much match action thereafter and the game went in Army XI's favour who is now a strong contender from Group I with six points. Army XI now play with New Delhi Heroes in the their last pre-quarterfinal league match. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Pre-Quarterfinal League Group A | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 14.00 IST New Delhi Heroes 6-1 Army Service Corps Goals: 1-0,2-0,5-1,6-1 Nagen Tamang (5',25',73',77'), 2-1 Nitesh Barailey (26'), 3-1 Manish Khatri (50'), 4-1 Itauê de Oliveira Rosa (56') NEW DELHI HEROES: 1-Baljinder Singh; 24-Manoj Joshi, 27-Stanley, 5-Rotdingson, 7-Bhuvan Krishna Joshi, 14-Marlanki Suting, 11-Barister Rymbat, 30-Amjad Ali Khan, 19-Manish Khatri (84' 21-Romeo Sukhlein), 10-Nagen Tamang, 13-Itauê de Oliveira Rosa Unused Substitutes: 12-Rashid Mehdi, 3-Pawan Kumar, 6-Prashant Jaggi, 8-Sumit Yadav, 9-Nirmaldeep, 15-Jiten Rai, 18-B Ralte, 20-Hamza Zaheer Abbas ARMY SERVICE CORPS: 20-Shantanu Kar (64' 1-Rajesh MV); 2-Suresh Marei, 4-Kiran K Varghese, 19-S Tudu, 5-D Sudhir Kumar, 6-Vetri Tamilian (24' 15-I Chaudhary), 7-Rakesh Singh, 8-A Ramesh, 9-N Karthik (19' 13-N.Bhattacharya), 10-Nitesh Bareilly, 11-M Thayagarajan Unused Substitutes: 3-Shibu K, 12-Ashish S, 14-Maria Joseph, 18-Sourav Das, 22-Amarjith C, 31-AK Balwani YELLOW CARDs: none REFEREE: Govind Kanojia (Delhi) ASSISTANT REFEREES: Kamal Rakshit (Delhi), Hari Chand (Delhi) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Sitendu Saha (Delhi) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: The New Delhi Heroes registered their first win in the pre-quarterfinal league to keep their hopes alive in the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup by defeating Army Service Corps, Bangalore. After putting up a spirited fight in their last game against the Assam Rifles the Delhi League champions were back with a bang in grand fashion by defeating their Bangalore rivals 6-1. But it is still early to predict as who will qualify for the quarterfinal league but at any cost the Chima Okorie coached side has to win their next match against Army XI. A pretty tough one for the Delhi League champions but the way they came back today it's not an impossible task ahead of them. Heroes striker Nagen Tamang scored a hattrick and amongst his four goals in just single match and is certainly a great prospect for Chima Okorie's side. On the other hand Army Service Corps looked helpless and were totally on the backfoot from the start of the match. It looked like they haven't recovered from the shock what Army XI gave them last match in which they conceded four goals. Nagen gave an early lead to the Delhi-based side in just the 5th minute when he scored with a right footer close range shot. The guy from Darjeeling who used to play for UK Sports just rose to occasion and scored another goal for his team in the 25th minute from Barister Rymbat left-footed cross from the left flank. ASC did show some fight back and were able to reduce the deficit a minute later from a Nitesh Bareilly goal. Nitesh scored an easy one after an defensive error by ND Heroes stopper Stanley, who was not able to clear the ball and totally misjudged it which gave Nitesh a chance to score his second goal of the tournament. After the lemon break once again Nagen came up with two brilliant goals to score a hattrick. Apart from Nagen, Manish Khatri and Itauê de Oliveira Rosa also added a goal each to their tally to make two in two games. Manish Kahtri scored the third goal for the ND Heroes with a brilliant volley with his right foot after an defensive error by A Ramesh in the 50th minute. A silly mistake by ASC goalkeeper Shantanu Kar on top of the penalty area gave Itauê a chance to make it 4-1, his brilliant left-footed freekick went to the far post left and left the opponent goalkeeper astonioshed in the 56th minute. The ND Heroes were well placed in the match and were in the drivers seat but it seemed Nagen wasn't satisfied with the scoreline yet, as he went on to score his hattrick in the 73rd minute to make things extremely difficult for ASC and his teams fifth goal, and only four minutes later he scored his fourth goal of the match and his teams sixth goal. Another error by the ASC defence gave Nagen a chance, who lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper to seal an impressive victory and a major one for the ND Heroes. The New Delhi Heroes now takes on Army XI in their last pre-quarterfinal league match on August 26. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

Calcutta Super Division: West Bengal Police 2-1 SAIL
Calcutta Super Division: Eastern Railway SC 2-0 Police AC
Calcutta Super Division: Calcutta Customs 1-1 Mohammedan AC
Calcutta Super Division: Bengal-Nagpur Railway 2-0 Tollygunge Agragami

11th Goa Professional League: Vasco SC 0-2 Raia Sporting Club - Goals: 0-1 Peter Pereira (68'), 0-2 Mark Fernandes (76').

11th Goa Professional League: Dempo SC 2-3 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: 0-1,0-2 Odafe Onyeka Okolie (23',26',84'), 1-2 Ranty Martins Soleye (35'), 2-2 Nacimento Silveira (65').

Guwahati Super Division: FCI, Guwahati 2-1 Assam State Electricity Board - Goals: 1-0 Manoj Rajkonwar (18'), 1-1 Utpal Basumatary (58'), 2-1 Bhaskarjyoti Bora (65').

August 23

RESULTS & NEWS

::: INDIA U16 to play Man U & Everton on England exposure trip :::
The INDIA U16 boys team will visit Manchester, England for an exposure trip from September 2 to 11. The team leaves Mumbai on September 1 and on the trip the INDIA U16 boys will play Everton Juniors on September 4 in Liverpool and the Juniors of English giants Manchester United on September 9.
For the Airtel-sponsored Indian Junior team this will be the second exposure trip this summer after visiting West Virginia in July for a three week exposure and training trip.
INDIA U16: Goalkeeper: Abhishek Das , Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Jayanta Paul; Defenders: Ajit Dhurva Bhoir, Ashfaq Ali, Ashish Chetri, Deepak Devrani, Shallum Pires, Sumit Rawat, Taranjit Kumar, Tanmoy Ghosh, Vishal Kumar Ravindra Kumar; Midfielders: Akshay Vimal Kumar Mall, Bijendra Rai, Bikramjit Singh, Shilton Sydney D'Silva, Harpreet Bedi, OR Lalrindika, Sunny, Tirthankar Sarkar; Forwards: Raegan Albarnas, Abhishek Das, Malsawmfela, Prem Kumar, Vivek Kumar.
Chief Coach/Technical Director: Colin Joseph Toal; Coach: Narayana Menon; Assistant Coach: Sanjoy Sen; Goalkeeping Coach: Tanumoy Basu; Physiotherapist: Chandru Jayaraman; Manager: Ankur Dutta.

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Pre-Quarterfinal League Group B | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 16.00 IST Salgaocar SC 3-0 ONGC, Mumbai Goals: 1-0 Eduardo Chacon Coelho Lacerda (33'), 2-0 Bijen Singh (41'), 3-0 PK Anil Kumar (85') SALGAOCAR: 1-Pralay Dutta; 18-Denzil Franco, 8-Agnelo Colaco, 28-Eduardo Chacon Coelho Lacerda, 17-TV Biju Kumar; 7-Bungo Thokchom Singh (70' 11-PK Anil Kumar), 30-Francis Fernandes (41' 14-Jerose Oliveira), 32-Cajetan Fernandes, 21-Sachin Gawas; 27-Beevan D'Mello, 16-Bijen Singh Unused Substitutes: 5-Rauf Sher Khan, 6-Sushil Kisku, 22-Hiralal Chetri, 23-William Colaco, 26-Milagres Gonsalves, 31-Maclas Moraes ONGC: 24-Rajat Ghosh Dastidar; 20-Ashirvad Hegde, 32-John Chinedu, 34-N Raghavendran, 3-Raghuveer Singh, 18-F Lalmuanpuia, 8-Somy PT (60' 14-Kaushik Bose), 9-Jatin Singh Bisht (73' 17-Phoolchand Hembram), 7-J Muralidharan, 28-A Naresh, 10-Tarif Ahmed (84' 19-Dhanesh MC) Unused Substitutes: 1-Prasanjit Ghosh, 2-Dharmesh Patel, 11-Malswamdangliana, 23-Samar Dev YELLOW CARDs: J Muralidharan (77', ONGC) REFEREE: OP Thakur (Jharkhand) ASSISTANT REFEREES: A Arjunan (Services), BS Negi (Delhi) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Janmohan (Delhi) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: Mumbai's ONGC saw an early exit from the 121st edition of the "Osian's" Durand Cup after going down by three goals against Salgaocar SC. With this win Salgaocar SC are on top of the table with six points in Group II. Playing under muddy and rainy conditions Salgaocar SC showed a better game plan over their rivals to seal an impressive victory in their second competitive match of the season. On the other hand two crucial injuries over their last match against TFA to their stopper Gaur Naskar and Amandeep Singh did make a difference in the ONGC game plan. Salgaocar got an early chance in the 10th minute through Bijen Singh whose shot was perfectly blocked by the ONGC goalkeeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar to deny them to take an lead. There was not much to do on a rainy ground for both the teams and the ground condition forced them to change their game plan. A misunderstanding between Rajat Ghosh Dastidar and his defenders allowed Salgaocar's Brazilian defender Eduardo Chacon Coelho Lacerda to score first goal from a Beevan D'Mello corner in the 33rd minute. Just four minutes later Bungo Singh could have added another goal from a Bijen Singh cross who was left unmarked by Ashirvad Hegde but his header was off target. Salgaocar didn't take much time to double their lead and went on to score through striker Bijen Singh's goal from a Beevan D'Mello pass who was electrifying in the field in the 41st minute. On the other hand the ONGC midfield had a bad day and though it looked like they are accustomed to muddy and rainy conditions. The first half ended with the scoreline 2-0 in favour of Salgaocar. ONGC never looked like coming back into the game and failed to keep up to the expectations that they had earned in their previous matches. There wasn't much match action in the second half from both the teams. Salgaocar substitute PK Anil Kumar confirmed the Goans win in the 85th minute, when he scored the third goal for his team. ONGC came close to reduce the deficit in the 86th minute through F Lalmuanpuia, whose 30 yard shot hit the bar post. From Salgaocar Anil Kumar and Beevan D'Mello are future prospects for the Subash Bhowmick coached side and even he was in full praise for both of them and said, "Anil and Beevan are young and have a great future. They have potential and have performed well in the last two matches." On the other hand Beevan D'Mello who is playing after sitting two years on the Salgaocar bench had a great start to his season and showed what an opportunity can do in one's life. He is now an important member of the Subash Bhowmick army but still a cause of concern for the team is a genuine striker. The absence of Yasif Yakubu is a great setback for the Goans. Salgaocar SC now takes on the Tata Football Academy in the last match of pre-quarterfinal league who are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinal league. A loss in the last match can mean the end for the Goans in the Durand Cup, while a win for them means TFA would have to go home. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Pre-Quarterfinal League Group B | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 14.00 IST Tata Football Academy 1-0 Border Security Force Goals: 1-0 PB Ekka (80' own Goal) TATA FOOTBALL ACADEMY: 1-Jagroop Singh; 2-Daniel Albert, 3-Raju Gaikwad, 12-Hardeep Singh, 16-Gurjinder Singh, 9-Robin Singh, 6-Subodh Kumar, 7-Jagannath Sana, 11-Sheikh Mustakim, 10-Jagtar Singh (77' 15-George Alwin), 14-Niroshan Mani (71' 17-Prakash Deepak) Unused Substitutes: 8-Dipankar Goldar, 18-Ramandeep Singh, 20-Ravinder Singh, 21-Ishant Debnath, 22-Z Stamhanghal, 23-Chingkhei Meetei, 25-Abhishek Das BORDER SECURITY FORCE: 28-Deepak Kumar Jr; 3-Kabul Singh, 5-Deepak Kumar Sr, 4-Mandeep Singh, 17-PB.Ekka, 7-PH Boy Singh, 27-Harjit Singh (84' 2-Tapas Bhattacharjee), 26-Santosh Sethi, 10-Sukwinder Singh (76' 18-Amanpreet Singh), 9-Kamal Kishore (54' 11-Avinash Thapa) Unused Substitutes: 1-Deepak Hazarika, 6-Sarabjit Singh, 8-Sandeep Kumar, 14-Kulwinder Singh, 15-Raghbir Singh, 20-Amarjit Singh YELLOW CARDs: none REFEREE: Dinesh Nair (Gujarat) ASSISTANT REFEREES: Mohammed Kamil (Delhi), Ratheesh Kumar (Services) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Bikramjit Purakayastha (Delhi) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: The Tata Football Academy kept their hopes alive to qualify for the quarterfinal league of 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup by defeating Border Security Forde by a solitary goal in their second match of the pre-quarterfinal league. An own goal by BSF defender PB Ekka in the 80th minute saw an early exit for the seven-time Durand Cup champions. BSF were not impressive today and could feel lucky with the scoreline as three TFA shots hit the bar. On the other hand TFA gathered three crucial points to stay in the hunt. TFA once again were not impressive and did disappoint the crowd as far as skills and what they are known for. BSF got an early chance through Kamal Kishore after a defensive lapse by the TFA defence but his shot was off target. TFA came closer to score their first goal in the 27th minute through Robin Singh's freekick that went close to the far post. Kamal Kishore got another chance in the 34th minute but failed to score and hit it directly to the TFA goalkeeper Jagroop Singh's hand. A triple save by the BSF goalkeeper Deepak Kumar Jr denied TFA to take the lead in the 43rd minute, first a header than a volley but Deepak was there to block every attempt by the young TFA side. The first half ended in a goalless draw and it wasn't an interesting one. Plenty of miss passes were committed by both teams in the entire match. After the lemon break TFA did play better football and nearly found their first goal when Subodh Kumar's shot hit the crossbar in the 67th minute. Subodh was tremendous in the TFA midfield and the best player to watch in the game, his passes as well as skills gave an edge to TFA over an experienced BSF. Subodh again provided a cross in the 76th minute but P Deepak header hit the post again. TFA were getting closer and closer to the defensive BSF zone but they weren't able to break the jinx. TFA finally broke the jinx in the 80th minute when P Deepak left-footed cross from the left flank found Subodh Kumar who was standing free in the penalty area, he took a shot that went in from a deflection by PB Ekka's thigh. With this win TFA now have four points from two matches and they are in the hunt along with Salgaocar SC. It is now a must win match against Salgaocar SC for the Carlton Chapman coached boys which can insure their place in the quarterfinal league. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

11th Goa Professional League: Velsao Pale SC 0-4 Sesa Football Academy - Goals: 0-1,0-3 Marcus Fernandes (18',75'), 0-2 Lesley Fernandes (26'), 0-4 Gabriel Fernandes (88').

Guwahati Super Division: Assam Police Blues 1-1 Jewel Star Club - Goals: 0-1 Bijoy Das (43'), 1-1 Manoj Gogoi (61').

3rd Manipur State League: NEROCA 1-3 NISA, Thangmeiband
3rd Manipur State League: Eastern Sporting Union 0-1 Manipur Police SC
3rd Manipur State League: NLYC, Churachandpur 0-2 USA, Khurai
3rd Manipur State League: YWC, Thambalkhong 0-1 TRUGPU, Nambol
3rd Manipur State League: Phoudel Youth Club, Thoubal 1-2 Southern Sporting Union
3rd Manipur State League: AMOFA, Moirang 1-1 Tiddim Road Athletic Union

::: Calcutta Premier League fixtures rescheduled :::
Due to monsoonal rains the IFA (West Bengal) has been forced to reschedule the Calcutta Premier League fixtures. The association has now only announced match dates until the end of August. The remaining matches will be scheduled later keeping the weather conditions in mind.
Click here fo the Calcutta Premier League - revised fixtures

August 22

RESULTS & NEWS

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Pre-Quarterfinal League Group A | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 16.00 IST New Delhi Heroes 2-3 Assam Rifles Goals: 0-1 Abel Sema (44'), 1-1 Manish Khatri (57'), 1-2 Abel Sema (64'), 1-3 Meikengai Kumai (68'), 2-3 Itauê de Oliveira Rosa (84' pen) NEW DELHI HEROES: 1-Baljinder Singh; 5-Rotdingson, 27-Stanley, 24-Manoj Joshi, 14-Marlanki Suting, 19-Manish Khatri, 21-Romeo Sukhlein (70' 9-Nirmaldeep), 20-Hamza Zaheer Abbas (83' 3-Pawan Kumar), 30-Amjad Ali Khan, 10-Nagen Tamang (45' 11-Barister Rymbat), 13-Itauê de Oliveira Rosa Unused Substitutes: 12-Rashid Mehdi, 6-Prashant Jaggi, 7-Bhuvan Krishna Joshi, 8-Sumit Yadav, 15-Jiten Rai, 18-B Ralte ASSAM RIFLES: 1-L Lokeshwar Singh; 4-D Mukhim, 2-Oman Kuttan, 5-Nauba Singh, 12-Herojit Singh, 6-T Thaiba Singh, 8-Johnly Kharlukhi (82' 10-Santa Singh), 17-Ajit Kumar, 9-Abel Sema, 7-Akum Ao (90' 14-B Das), 16-M Bulu Jigdung (63' 11-Meikengai Kumai) Unused Substitutes: 3-N Gupin Singh, 15-Pijendra Singh, 18-Omkar Rana, 28-Satvinder Singh YELLOW CARDs: Manoj Joshi (43'), Pawan Kumar (90', both ND Heroes); Nauba Singh (85', Assam Rifles) REFEREE: Ashok Ghosh (Delhi) ASSISTANT REFEREES: Govind Kanojia (Delhi), OP Thakur (Jharkhand) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Pratap Singh (Services) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: Continuing their fine run in this edition of the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup Assam Rifles went on to defeat Delhi league champions New Delhi Heroes 3-2 in a close and thrilling tie. Playing their first competitive match of the season the New Delhi Heroes didn't have a great start and were not too impressive, though they came back strongly in the game but that was not enough for the Chima Okerie coached side. On the other hand with this win Assam Rifles is a strong contender along with Army XI to qualify for the Quarterfinal league. Assam Rifles who have upset many professional clubs in the Durand Cup in the past were much more organized than the Delhi league champion. A fine performance by their captain Ajit Kumar and a brace by Abel Sema gave Assam Rifles their first victory of the pre-quarterfinals and a deserving one it was. On the other hand the New Delhi Heroes were not able to keep up to the expectation of the crowd and lost a vital match which can mean an early exit from the Durand Cup. Assam Rifles got their first chance in the 26th minute through Abel Sema but his shot was off target. New Delhi Heroes replied back strongly in 38th minute but a weak header by their Brazilian striker Itauê de Oliveira Rosa didn't trouble Assam Rifles keeper Lokeshwar Singh. Assam Rifles got their first goal through a set piece when Thaiba Singh's freekick was brilliantly headed in by Abel Sema at the far post in the 44th minute. Both the teams had equal chances in the first half but it was Assam Rifles who could utilize one of their chances and were successful to maintain the lead at the end of the first 45 minutes. The second half of the match was very exciting as in total four goals were scored. The New Delhi Heroes did manage to score two goals but it was not enough to save them from defeat. The New Delhi Heroes midfield had a very bad day and wasn't able to support neither their strikers nor their defenders which could cause further problems for the team in the coming matches. The New Delhi Heroes came back strongly in the opening 10 minutes of the second half and got the important equaliser through Manish Khatri who scored through a volley from a Marlanki Suting corner after a weak clearance by the Assam Rifles defence in the 57th minute. It seemed like the New Delhi Heroes were back in the game but their hopes were dashed once again when Abel Sema scored his teams second goal through a header from Ajit's left footer cross from the left flank in the 64th minute. Assam Rifles increased their lead just four minutes later through substitute Meikengai Kumai who scored through another Ajit Kumar's pass in the 68th minute. The New Delhi Heroes got a good chance through Itauê de Oliveira Rosa but his freekick was saved by Assam Rifles goalkeeper Lokeshwar Singh. The New Delhi Heroes only managed to reduce the margin in the 86th minute when Itauê de Oliveira Rosa was brought down in the penalty area, the foul resulted in a penalty and yellow card for the Assam Rifles stopper Nauba Singh, Iteue scored the penalty to keep the New Delhi Heroes hopes alive. A pathetic refeering decision by the assistant referee OP Thakur in the closing moments of the game over an offside in favour of Assam Rifles also raised many questions in the tournament's refereeing. The match ended with Assam Rifles taking three crucial points. It's now a do or die situation for the New Delhi Heroes who needs to win all their matches now to stay in the hunt for a quarterfinal spot. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

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121st Durand Cup 2008 | Pre-Quarterfinal League Group A | Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi | 14.00 IST Army XI 4-1 Army Service Corps, Bangalore Goals: 1-0 MG Ramachandran (34'), 2-0 Nogen Lama (43'), 3-0 Gordon Z (61'), 4-0 Thirunavakarsu (82'), 4-1 Nitesh Bareely (85') ARMY XI: 1-Robikanta Singh; 2-KP Kabui, 5-Dileep M, 4-Nogen Lama, 19-Lalraiteela, 8-Gordon Z, 16-LN Munda, 17-Laldingliana (64' 21-Somanth Das), 13-Mahesh Rai (77' 6-Thirunavakarsu), 10-Sochungmi Raleng (71' 7-Nguernilal Hmar), 9-MG Ramachandran Unused Substitutes: 3-Bijen Bondra, 11-Vijay Thapa, 12-Avijit Biswas, 15-Sudhit Mishra, 24-H Jembo Singh, 30-Kazi Zaman ARMY SERVICE CORPS: 20-Shantanu Kar, 5-D Sudhir Kumar, 19-S Tudu (79' 22-Amarjith C), 4-Kiran K Varghese, 2-Suresh Marei, 3-Shibu K (25' 15-I Chaudhary), 7-Rakesh Singh, 8-A Ramesh (75' 14-Maria Joseph), 9-N Karthik, 10-Nitesh Bareilly, 11-M Thayagarajan Unused Substitutes: 1-Rajesh MV, 6-Vetri Tamilian, 12-Ashish S, 13-N.Bhattacharya, 18-Sourav Das, 31-AK Balwani YELLOW CARDs: none REFEREE: Nazir Ahmed (Jammu&Kashmir) ASSISTANT REFEREES: Kamal Rakshit (Delhi), Sitendu Saha (Delhi) FOURTH OFFICIAL: Hari Chand (Delhi) MATCH COMMISSIONER: Col. Gautam Kar MATCH REPORT: Army XI thrashed Army Service Corps, Bangalore by 4-1 to gather all three points in their opening pre-quarterfinal league match of the 121st "Osian's" Durand Cup. Army XI were on top of the game right from the word go and never allowed Army Service Corps to take the drivers seat. Army XI who has most of the players, who were the part of services squad in the Santosh Trophy, was well ahead of their Army rivals in every department of the game. Army XI now leads Group II with three points on better goal average and is a strong contender along with Assam Rifles to qualify for the Quarterfinal League. Army started their game on a high note and forced ASC to defend their goal post most of the time, ASC did manage to qualify for the Pre-Quarterfinal League but the team lacks experience in many areas especially in midfield and the striking zone. Army XI got an early chance through Mahesh Rai corners but Sochungmi Raleng shot was brilliantly saved by ASC goalkeeper Shantanu Kar in the 28th minute. Army did take time to score their first goal but once they broke the jinx they totally dominated the game. They scored the opener in the 34th minute when their captain MG Ramachandran headed in from corner taken by KP Kabui. The experienced Ramachandran was a threat for the ASC defenders and made them work hard but ASC failed to match his skill. Army XI doubled their lead in 43rd minute through Nogen Bodra's splendid outstep freekick leaving ASC keeper Shantanu Kundu astonished. The goal is amongst the best goals of the tournament so far. Army XI's plan was working and the best part of their game was the way they were executing their game plan. The first half ended 2-0 in favour of Army XI. After the lemon break Army XI again showed their supremacy in the game and went on to score two more goals in the second half. Army sent an early message to all the participating professional clubs that they can also match-up to their qualities and standard. Army XI scored their third goal through Gordon Z splendid volley who gave no chance to the opponent goalkeeper to react in 61st minute. Substitute Thirunavakarsu scored the fourth goal, an own created attempt by the Armyman in the 82nd minute. ASC's Nitesh Bareely was only able to reduce the deficit in the 85th minute. Army XI showed wonderful combination in midfield as well as the striking zone which was really a treat to watch. Army XI has a successful past in the Durand Cup but its early to comment on the final verdict as they have Assam Rifles in their group who have been consistent in Durand Cup in last three years when it comes qualifying for the quarterfinals. For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>121st "Osian's"Durand Cup section.

Guwahati Super Division: Maharana AC 0-9 Assam Dynamo Club - Goals: 0-1,0-9 Lalrimfela (4',89'), 0-2 Robert Laldozuala (20'), 0-3,0-7 Sajal Seal (33' pen, 77'), 0-4,0-5 Amrit Basowar (38',44'), 0-6 Padum Rabha (69'), 0-8 Samir Dutta (pen).

::: NEO Sports to show the German Bundesliga season 2008/09 :::