Wed, Nov 03 10 10:22 PM
New Delhi, Nov 3 (PTI) In an exciting contest that went down to the wire, JCT rode on Amandeep Singh''s extra-time strike to knock out defending champions Churchill Brothers and book a final berth in the 123rd Durand Cup football tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here today. After both teams failed to find the net in regulation time, Amandeep, running in towards the post from the left, lobbed one past Churchill Brothers custodian Vinay Singh with his right foot in the 101 minute of the fist semifinal, to bring an end to the Goans'' campaign. Much of the credit for the all-important goal should also go to Daniel Bidemi -- his flicked header off JCT goalkeeper Pawan Kumar''s kickback landed in the zone for Amandeep to lob the ball into the Churchill Brothers net. "I am very happy for that assist that led to the all-important goal, but I must appreciate Amandeep''s effort who pulled off a nice goal," Bidemi said after the match. While Amandeep broke the deadlock, it was Pawan who turned out to be the real hero for the winners. An understudy to former JCT goalkeeper Karanjit Singh for the last few years, Pawan made some brilliant saves today, and was equal to the task against dangerman Okolie Odafe. The defending champions could have taken the lead just before Amandeep''s strike had it not been for Pawan, who stretched full length on the right to block Odafe''s power-packed freekick. Going by the standards he has set for himself, it won''t be wrong to say that Odafe had an off-colour day, though he was marked by almost the entire JCT outfit. "That was the ploy," JCT coach Parminder Singh said after the match. The absence of a few important players, especially stopper Gouramangi Singh, who are currently with the national team in Dubai, did not help the Goans'' cause. Odafe had a chance to break the ice on the 90th minute, but he shot Zakeer M P''s through ball wide off the post. Churchill Brothers were also not helped by woodwork -- at least on three occasions they were denied. Ismail Gurung, after a sortie from the right flank, sent a diagonal that hit the crosspiece, and after that, Odafe missed to score off the rebound. Even as Churchill attacked with alarming regularity at the start of second half, JCT played a composed game to wriggle out of the difficult situation. Their defence, manned by stoppers Rahul Kumar and Omolaja Nurain Kareem, and well supported by rightback Daljit Singh and Lal Chuanmawia on the left, didn''t give any space to Odafe. Earlier JCT started the match on a positive note, and Bidemi''s angled shot off Daljit cross that was parried away by Vinay, was an indication of things to come. The last time JCT had played in a Durand final was in 2006, when they lost to Dempo by a solitary goal. The outfit from Punjab have won the tournament, the third oldest in the world, on five occasions.
Source: Published>
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