A hat-trick from forward Jotin Singh spurred Army Service Corps and Centre (ASC and Centre) to an emphatic 3-1 win over Bengaluru Football Club (BFC) in the BDFA Super Division league at the Bangalore Football Stadium here on Sunday.
Jotin netted the opener for ASC with a powerful shot in the first half. He then doubled the lead with a lob in the 54th minute before completing the rout with an overhead kick in the 71st minute. BFC, playing their under-18 side, pulled one back through midfielder Vignesh V in the 81st minute.
ASC went ahead in the 11th minute through Jotin, who opened his account for the game, after smashing the ball past the BFC goalkeeper Jafar Mondai.
Soon after, BFC’s midfielder Rizul Patiyal made a serious bid to equalise from an audacious long-range effort but the alert ASC goalkeeper AK Balwanth made a diving save to tip his shot over the bar.
BFC midfielder Leon Augustine missed a good chance to bring the score level after the break when he slammed his shot over the bar from inside the box after receving a superb cross from Patiyal in the left flank.
BFC were soon made to pay for lacking the killer instinct in front of goal as Jotin, left unmarked at the edge of the box, lifted the ball over the onrushing BFC ’keeper Mondai into the empty net to give ASC a 2-0 lead.
Jotin got his and ASC’s third when he found the back of the net from an acrobatic strike inside the box.
BFC, however, continued to press for a goal and were finally rewarded in the dying minutes of the game. A long-ball from the BFC’s midfielder Ajay Chhetri found Doungel, whose lobbed effort beat the ’keeper but ricocheted off the bar for Vignesh to tap into the empty net.
In the ‘A’ Division, Bangalore Eagles rallied to earn a 2-2 against Bangalore Independents.
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