Bharath Earth Movers Ltd overcame stiff resistance from Postal before prevailing by a solitary goal in a Group A encounter of the Puttaiah Memorial football tournament for Super Division teams at the Bangalore Football stadium here on Monday.
The victory proved crucial for BEML who with seven points are now tied with KSP at second place. BEML need just a draw in their last game against Army Service Corps and Centre on Wednesday, while KSP who have finished their league engagements will go through to the knockout phase only in case of an ASC victory.
The first half was a barren affair with neither teams coming out with any attacking move. Though BEML enjoyed a lion’s share of the possession, they fired only in fits and starts. The only occasion on which they looked like scoring was when Ricky Joy had a long shy at the goal in the 11th minute, only to be denied by Postal custodian Raveendran.
After the break, BEML realising that nothing less than a victory will keep them in contention for a semifinal spot showed some urgency with Nigerian Abdullahi Amza and Wilfred being the fulcrum of their moves. However, they hit a roadblock in Postal defender Naveen Babu who thwarted most of their scoring attempts.
Break deadlock
BEML finally broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute when Tiken Singh’s cross deflected off Postal’s Ramesh’s hand inside the box. Referee George didn’t have to think twice to award a penalty and Sanath Kumar found the left top of the goal to bring cheers to the BEML camp.
In the stoppage time, Postal’s Arun Pandey — one of their prolific scorers in the last year’s Super Division — almost pulled off the equaliser with a solo effort, but luck didn’t favour the underdogs as Pandey’s hit missed the crosspiece by a whisker.
Earlier, riding on a brace each by Karthik (7th, 50th) and Sampath Kumar (23rd, 55th), ASC blanked Aeronautical Development Establishment 5-0 with Srinath (58th) scoring the other goal for winners. With still one match to go against Postal, ADE have conceded a whopping 14 goals from three matches without scoring any.