Madhu shines in CIL win

ADE sail past South Western Railway in A Division

The well-attended match saw attacking football from both teams. CIL were the more proactive with Subba and Gopi creating opportunities. The former taking a couple of shots at goal, but the first was wide and the second flew over the crosspiece.

The first goal came in the 22nd minute when an unmarked Madhu, coming in for Krishna Kumar who picked up a knee injury, exploited a lapse in the SAI defence to fire a powerful right-footer to goalkeeper Jayanth K’s left.

The goal rejuvenated CIL as they intensified their forays into the rival defence with Kanika Raj teaming up with Subba and Gopi coming close to scoring.
Subba’s relentless pursuit finally paid off in the 33rd minute. Breaking away from SAI defenders Stephen and Dominic, he made a sizzling run on the right wing before finding Madhu with a measured cross.

The latter made it 2-0 with an easy tap-in.
SAI tried all they could to reduce the deficit but were unsuccessful as the White and Red brigade defended hard.

In the second half, SAI strikers Rajkiran and Mohammmad Abrar made some incisive moves. They almost pulled one back in the 48th minute until poor finishing let them down, but they didn’t have to wait too long as Rajkiran came to the party in the 51st minute. Collecting a through ball from captain Sridhar, he dodged his way past a couple of defenders and fired home a powerful strike to the left of stranded CIL goalkeeper N Venkatesh.

SAI went looking desperately for the equaliser but CIL held firm to come away with full points.

Other results: ‘A’ Division: ADE: 2 (Omprakash 25th, Santhosh 77th) bt SWR: 0. ‘B’ Division: Young Muslims: 4 (Arun 19th, 70th, Nixon Lovts 43rd, Ravibabu 66th) bt Universal: 2 (Velu 7th, Madesh 10th).