Clinical ASC bag maiden crown

Army men trounce hapless ADE

Their superiority was evident and the quality that set them apart was undeniable as Army Service Corps (ASC) thrashed Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) 7-0 to win the BDFA Super Division football league title here on Tuesday.

ASC attained an unassailable lead with 21 points from their eight games, assuring them of the title, while South United settled for the second spot after finishing their campaign on 19 points from their eight assignments.

The Army men, who came into the game knowing that a draw would help their cause, showed no signs of ease as they were on the front foot looking for goals from the word go. “We knew that a draw would be enough for us, but that was not a result that we were settling for,” said the ASC forward Jotin Singh, who ended the campaign with 11 goals to his name.

It was not long before the deadlock was broken in the 13th minute. Ramachandran, who bossed the midfield for the majority of the game, found an unmarked Dawa Bhutia 12 yards from goal. The forward made no mistake as he rounded of the ADE keeper Dayalan before slotting the ball into an empty goal to kick-start the rout.

Later, it was Jotin who had his name mentioned on the score sheet with two fantastic strikes. If the first one in the 25th minute was all about his individual skill as he romped past two defenders to beat the keeper with ease, the second one showed the acrobatic side of the former Churchill Brothers forward as he found the back of the net through a perfectly measured scissor-kick in the 58th minute.

ASC coach Raghu Kumar was all praises for the striker from Manipur. “He has been good for us this season. Giving us goals when we needed the most. It is his eye for the goal that sets him apart from other lads and it’s not a surprise that he is our top scorer,” he said.

Results: Super Division: ASC: 7 (Dawa Bhutia 13th, 33rd, 55th, Jotin Singh 25th, 58th, Thirunavukarasu 85th, Kiran Varghese 87th) bt ADE: 0.

‘A’ Division: SAI: 3 (Gowathm 13th, Neeraj Singh 51st, Deepak Singh 56th) bt BUFC: 2 (Akshay 20th, Madhu 40+1).