Hindustan Aeronautic Sports Club (HASC) handed a bitter lesson to Oriental Football Club (OFC), routing the debutants 7-0 in the Super Division football league at the Bangalore Football Stadium here on Wednesday.
Satish Kumar led the HASC onslaught with a hat-trick while Prakash added two and Bimal Minz and James Effiong contributed one each. With this win, HASC have moved to the top of the points table with a 100 percent start from two outings.
HASC coach Manivannan rightly tested the reserve strength against a side that sneaked into the expanded league with a fourth-place finish in the ‘A’ Division. Xavier Vijayakumar and Karunakaran were rested as Satish and Nanda Kumar got a look in from the start.
HASC took control right from the start though a sluggish field due to a heavy downpour made matters difficult for both sides. Oriental players showed their unhappiness over the slippery conditions just before the start of the second half but the officials decided to continue with the game.
Trailing By then, Oriental were 0-3 down, courtesy a hat-trick by Satish. He drew first blood in the 15th minute after receiving a side-footed pass from Nanda and slotted it past OFC goalkeeper Elavarasan.
Unconvincing clearance and shabby marking by the Oriental defence offered enough opportunities for HASC and Satish took advantage of one such lapse in the 43rd minute to slam one in with the help of a deflection. Two minutes later, he completed the hat-trick when Nanda surged ahead on the left flank and his well-directed cross was touched in by the midfielder.
After the first half, when Oriental could not produce a single well-constructed move, their problems mounted when an unmarked Bimal turned in a cross from Nanda in the 48th minute. A Sumit Thapa free-kick from the left of the Oriental box was headed in neatly by Prakash in the 61st minute while second-half substitute James made it 6-0 in the 77th. Seven minutes later, Prakash again struck, shooting one to the top right corner of the goal.
