Chandigrah: On the third and final day of the ongoing Lt. Col. Deol Memorial Tournament being held at the Sector 17 Football Stadium, Chandigarh, the Minerva sharks pulled off another thumping victory, this time over the formidable Chandigarh FC side.
Sharks started off on an attacking note, knowing that the only chance they had of winning the tournamanet was if they pulled of a victory over Chandigarh FC with a good score line.
In the 5th minute itself Sharks youngster Sailo converted an obscure pass from 40 yards leaving the CFC Goalkeeper Manvir shell shocked. In the 32nd minute Minerva doubled their lead though a powerful shot from Arshdeep Singh which again left the keeper Manvir beaten. The match was finished off when Lago Bei of Minerva Sharks scored in the 43rd minute with Minerva taking an unassailable 3-0 lead.
In the second half CFC applied pressure but could not score. This lead to frustration of the players and in the 55th minute CFC’s prolific striker Aman Banwait was sent off with a red card for the second match in a row for violent conduct against he referee. Minerva Sharks then started playing possession football to hold ball knowing they they had the numerical advantage. But Gagandeep Singh of Chandigarh FC managed to get a consolation goal for CFC in the 71st minute to make the final score 3-1 in the Sharks favour. This took the sharks tally to 6 points.
Minerva AFC now needed to beat the Air Force by a good margin in the following game to be Declared Winners. In the following match Minerva AFC and IAF played a stalemate in the first half 0-0 with both teams playing very cautious football. Minerva’s forward Joseph missed some easy chances including an open sitter which could have eased the pressure on Minerva.
The second half was thrilling and saw more intent from both the teams. The IAF team yet to see a win in the tournament made some substitutes to shape up the forward line. This yielded results as IAF were the first to score in the 65th minute making the score line 0-1 in IAF’s favour. This gave a boost of confidence to the IAF side who found a new spring in their step and started attacking more. In one such counter attack in the 82nd minute Minerva AFC striker Girik was brought down just outside the box and free kick was awarded to Minerva AFC in a dangerous area. Manandeep Singh (of ISL Kerela Blasters fame) did not squander the opportunity, took the free kick and tied the scores at 1-1. This acted as a ray of hope for Minerva AFC who had had a wif of the victory. Soon after Jaramanjit Singh of Minerva AFC headed the ball into the goal from a corner kick. The match ended with the final score 2-1 in Minerva’s Academy FC’s favour.
