With the sun beating down hard on the Bangalore Football stadium, the tempo of the match was not on the fast lane but the opportunistic ONGC stood tall, thanks to the individual brilliance of Bisht and sloppy finishing of Malabar.
With both teams possessing a very potent mid-field a lot was expected from them in the contest.
While Aif K and Firos K shined for Malabar, the consistent show from Bisht is what seperated the two sides.
The 28-year-old long-haired right-winger from Sajjanpur was simply outstanding. Working tirelessly through the fixture, Bisht alternated wonderfully between attacking and holding play, leaving Malabar constantly searching for answers.
However, Malabar will have only themselves to blame for the defeat. Despite being outwitted in the first half, they put up a better show upon resumption but poor finishing let them down.
ONGC went off the block in the best possible manner, taking the lead as early as in the fourth minute. Bisht relayed a superb cross from the right that was headed in sharply by Nigerian defender Bolaji Olibiyi.
Dominating play and possession, ONGC extended the lead in the 27th minute with a moment of brilliance from Bisht when his viciously curling corner kick from the left appeared to get a tiny deflection off fellow striker Badmas Babatunde’s head before screaming into the net. The goal was awarded to Babatunde.
Stung by the double blow, Firos K injected some much-needed adrenaline into Malabar after the medio connected PU Vijesh Kumar’s flat cross from the right with a lunging header two minutes from interval.
Malabar nearly appeared bring the contest on equal terms when a defensive blunder from ONGC gifted the ball straight to Firos K, but he shot wide from point blank.
Bisht then finally laid the icing on the cake for a superb day in the office, rifling a shot from 35 yards that soared past Malabar goalkeeper Pramod P into the net.
SESA open account
SESA Football Academy opened their account following a 2-2 draw against Oil India.
Israil Gurung handed SESA the lead in the 24th minute before Manas Manjit Chetia equalised in the 66th minute. Selwyn Fernandes put SESA 2-1 in the 80th minute while Chetia struck again four minutes from the end of the match.
