Ajiraj’s moment of magic helped Madras Engineer Group and Centre (MEG) edge out Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) 1-0 in their BDFA Super Division league match at the Bangalore Football stadium on Wednesday.
Ajiraj netted for MEG in the 43rd minute of a game that could have gone either away.
MEG started strongly with Ngeurnilal and Ajiraj initiating manoeuvres from the right. In the fourth minute, Nguernilal came close to striking on a through ball but BEL custodian Hari grabbed the ball to stop him.
BEL missed a chance in the 11th minute when Sureen failed to slot the ball in off a pass from Vikram from the right. For the Sappers, Ramu V was the creative force in the midfield as he fed Nguernilal and Lokeshwar Singh with passes.
MEG’s dry run continued when Dipen Thapa’s curling shot from the right was brilliantly saved by Hari in the 37th minute. Two minutes later, Thapa failed to make the most of a corner from Ramu as his regulation header went wide to make matters worse for MEG.
In the 43rd minute, Ajiraj brought joy for MEG when his curling free kick past Hari fetched the only goal of the match. After which, MEG had a spring in their step.
After the break, Ramu continued to trouble BEL’s defence with his raids from the right wing. BEL brought in Kewal for Nagaraj in the 50th minute and the former made an impression rightaway with his passing and pace.
Mohan stood out for BEL with three shots on target that could well have been goals. He fired a shot in the 54th minute that went over the crosspiece. In the 62nd minute, Mohan’s free kick hit the top of the post while in the 70th minute his shot from the edge of the box went wide.
Nguernilal had a bad day in the office as he failed to tap-in off a Ramu cross in the 82nd minute. BEL made attempts to equalise in the dying minutes but MEG’s defence stopped them in their tracks to come away with three points.
‘A’ Division result: RWF: 2 (Satish Kumar 30th, Arun Das 66th) bt SWR: 0.