Range Police relegated

Range Police relegated

                                                                                 

           

ON AN evening which both teams of the relegation final of the Elite Division of the Meghe-NDFA Championship 2014-15 realised that the team to lose would be relegated one division down to the Super Division for the football season 2015-16, it turned out to be Range Police Nagpur who would need to bear the agony of that relegation.

The cops lost 0-1 to Divisional Sports Association Central Railway Nagpur. the goal being conceded in the second half of play (58th minute).

Talk about the all important goal, it was a beauty of a goal, with Aziz Qurcshi, DSACR'sstriker. scoring the " IK nig Dutchman' (Robin van Persie) style, nodding a cross from the right-in lane by team mate Adil Ansari (former Indian Railways player). Put simply, it was a nunc least expected by Range Police's goal-keeper. Rahmatullah Chaudhari who was left standing rooted under the crosspiece.

The cops, however, did get a grand opportunity to level scores when DSACR's' defender. Ishrat Kamal smartly handled the ball just inside the penalty area in a flying attempt to clear the ball from just inside the box.

Referee Ramu Naidu earned the kudos of many for being brave enough to point to the penalty spot in the last minute of play (90th min). However, nothing worse could have happened for the cops, their dependable scheming striker Abdul Jafar took it without uh) much of a thought finding the ever alert goal -keeper of DSACR Asif Khan dive to his left and come up with a knee-high double-handed block.

The railwaymen deserve praises for their skill, but boos for using their fertile imagination to waste time and slow down play, (even before they could score), in at least eight different ways, even as they played rough and reckless football for at least 30 of the 90 minutes of play.

Referee Ramu Naidu succumbed to pressure tactics by tl>e feigning and rough-playing railwaymen. If he hadn't there would have been only nine men playing lor the railwaymen.

Yellmv cards: DSACRh': Kaleem Ansari (23rd min). Chetan Khare (73rd min). Ishrat Kamal (49th min). Range Police: Shoeb Ansari (73 rd min).

On Thursday: Senior Division: Taj Sporting Culb Club vs Nagpur City at Takli. 3.30 p.m.

Posted in: News 2014