A freakish opening goal and a spectacular second strike helped Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) open their account with a 2-0 win over Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS) in the Super Division football league at the Bangalore Football Stadium here on Thursday.
Striker Donnald took advantage of a lapse by DYSS custodian Shahzeb Rafi in the 48th minute and then, veteran Dakshinamurthy produced a stunning 74th-minute long-ranger to ensure that ADE have something to cheer about after a disastrous start in the season with three defeats.
ADE had more scoring opportunities and only a lacklustre finishing denied them more goals though their rivals escaped twice with woodwork deflections.
After a dull early action devoid of any fruitful moves, ADE’s first scoring chance came in the 12th minute when Deepan’s header was cleared on the goal mouth by Patterson, who headed the ball out of danger.
Swift move
Newly-promoted DYSS, who are yet to score a goal in the season, surprised ADE with a swift move by Suji Kumar on the left but he went for a long ranger when a cross to unmarked fellow striker Enosh could have yielded the desired result.
DYFF had lucky escapes when Donnald’s powerful drive found the crosspiece in the 39th minute and at the stroke of half-time, Jairaj’s right-footer struck the right-hand post.
But they went down shortly after resumption, when Gnanaprakash’s free-kick slipped out of skipper Rafi’s palms and Donnald pounced on the opportunity with a right-foot strike.
Sitting pretty on the lead, ADE bagged another goal when midfielder Dakshinamurthy’s 30-yard effort swirled in and ended up at the right corner of the goal. The effort by the 39-year-old former international suddenly drew applause from the spectators and finally, ADE men left the field as thorough winners.
In the ‘A’ Division league, Bangalore United outclassed Reserve Bank of India 3-0 with Ramesh (12th), Madhukaran (55th) and Kamal (65th) scoring for the winners.
Friday’s matches: Super Division: MEG vs BEL, 3.45 pm; ‘A’ Division: AGORC vs RWF, 1:45 pm.