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Tegh Bahadur football: Hunters shock VOBA after a dramatic comeback win
The loss eliminates Vincent’s Old Boys Association from the tournament.
Pune Vincent’s Old Boys Association (VOBA) FC took the lead on two occasions only to falter in the second half to hand Valley Hunters a shocking victory in the Guru Tegh Bahadur Football Tournament at the College of Engineering Pune (COEP) ground on Thursday. While VOBA have been eliminated from the tournament, the resilient side of Valley Hunters will now progress to the next round and face Ashoka XI for a semi-final spot.
The game began on a cagey note with both teams testing the waters in the early minutes. Valley Hunters launched the first attack as winger Abrar Ahmed stormed down the left flank, but his run was stopped by the VOBA defence before he could inflict any damage. In retaliation, VOBA launched a quick counter in an effort to catch the Hunters off guard, but failed to make the most of the opportunity as the ball bounced right in front of their striker and the Hunters’ keeper, Shriram Choudhary, was first to get his hands on the ball.
VOBA deployed an attacking line-up and Hunters’ tactics looked defensive. The latter were playing with four defenders and two defensive midfielders, leaving very few players for attack. Despite the defensive setup, VOBA were able to sneak past the Hunters’ defence. VOBA winger Guneesh Bedi found himself in a good position on the right wing as he whipped in a cross, but the ball went straight into the arms of the goalkeeper before any VOBA attacker could get a touch on it.
Midway through the first half, both teams were abysmal in the final third. Neither side was able to make their passes stick and failed to apply the final touch. Valley Hunters had a glorious opportunity when their striker Nikhil Gaikwad played a delightful through ball to set Faisal Mohammed up for a goal, but Faisal failed to capitalise and fluffed his lines as he failed to control the pass and the ball was shunted out for a throw-in.
The tempo of the game in the first half was quite slow and unpredictable till the midway point of the game. Towards the closing stages of the first half, VOBA probed further after winning the ball in midfield. The ball bounced awkwardly in front of VOBA’s Kaizan Irani, who put a boot through the ball and attempted to score off a half-volley, but saw his effort fly just over the bar and before the Hunters’ defence breathe a collective sigh of relief.
As the first half was approaching its conclusion, VOBA won a free-kick near the half-line. Afaque Shaikh then caught the Hunters’ defence napping as he played in an early ball which landed straight in the feet of Riyaan, who was on-side and completely unmarked inside the box. The striker made no mistake in tapping the ball in to put his side in a crucial lead just before half-time. Shortly after the goal, Valley Hunters played out a long ball from their own half as VOBA’s keeper Leonard Mendis came motoring forward to clear the ball away. In the attempt to clear it, Mendis smacked the ball straight into Hunters’ striker Faisal, but luckily for Mendis, the ball did not go into the net, but rolled towards a defender, who eventually cleared it.
VOBA started the second half with a narrow one-goal lead, knowing that they had to score at least one more goal to establish a comfortable cushion for themselves. The second goal of the game came early in the second half, but it was one which restored parity. Valley Hunters, who switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-5-2 in the second half, played a long ball from their own half, and it was collected and controlled brilliantly by Nikhil. Nikhil then slotted the ball past a helpless keeper to level the score.
After switching their formation and bagging the equaliser, Hunters were on the prowl, as they pushed forward in search for another goal. Yash Sharma came very close to putting the Hunters in the lead, but his effort rolled wide of the post. Just as Valley Hunters were looking the more threatening side on pitch, VOBA launched a rare counter from the left flank. A long ball was played into the Hunters’ penalty area and it was headed towards the keeper.
Astonishingly, Hunters’ keeper and skipper, Shriram Choudhary, failed to catch the ball as he lost his balance and spilled it right in-front of VOBA attacker Omkar Sonawane. Sonawane, who was completely unmarked and the lone player inside the box, strolled with the ball at his feet and rolled it into the goal as VOBA retook the lead of the game. The Hunters’ defence could do nothing but stare at their keeper with disbelief.
After conceding a comical goal, Hunters were on the attack again as they swarmed forward and won a free-kick near the VOBA penalty area. Deepak Mourya struck the set-piece with power, but failed to get the placement right as his effort flew over the crossbar. Hunters won another free-kick, this time on the right flank. Joseph Francis wasted the set-piece as he could not get the require elevation to swerve the ball into the box, and instead ended up hitting VOBA’s two-player wall.
After wasting quite a few good opportunities, Hunters were finally able to find the back of the net. For the first time in the game, VOBA’s defence was caught napping, and Faisal Mohammed made the most of that error by pouncing on a long ball and taking the shot directly, without getting more touches on the ball. The initial strike was brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper, but the ball rolled right back into the path of Faisal who slotted the ball into the bottom right corner to level the score again.
Three minutes after the equaliser, Valley Hunters deployed a beautiful move which ended with the winning goal. Faisal took possession of the ball near the half-line and darted through the centre of the field, dribbled past two players, and played it out to Abrar Ahmed. Ahmed entered the VOBA penalty area, cut inside and rolled the ball towards Nikhil. Nikhil gently rolled the ball into the net to gift Hunters the decisive goal of the match.
With seven minutes still left on the clock, VOBA launched a desperate attack in an attempt to take the game to penalties. The attack lead to a free-kick which was awarded to VOBA as Riyaan stood over the ball, at the edge of the penalty area. The striker did not go for goal, but instead played a sloppy pass towards Jitu Gangwani, who failed to control the ball as the Hunters’ defence parried the ball away.
In the dying minutes of the game, surprisingly, Valley Hunters launched an attack and almost bagged a fourth goal as Ashley Dass was darting towards goal and unleashed a venomous strike which dipped, but only rattled the crossbar. The final whistle blew shortly after that strike, confirming VOBA’s elimination and Valley Hunters’ presence in the next stage of the tournament.
Quote
“Recently, our team has not been practicing regularly. As a result, in the second half, we were tired. We were in the lead twice and we should not have lost that advantage. We need to practice on fighting back and applying the finishing touches.”
- Jitu Gangwani, captain, Vincent’s Old Boys Association (VOBA FC).
“We are playing as a team after eight months. We faltered in the first half, but then we switched tactics just in time and the team is really happy after the win. We still do not have all our core players because it is a weekday game. Most of our players are either in college or at work. Hopefully, we will soon play a game on the weekend and that is when we will field our strongest team.”
- Shriram Choudhary, captain, Valley Hunters.
Results
Ashoka XI 2 bt UKM ‘B’ 0
Blue Stag FC 2 bt Swaraj FC 1
Valley Hunters 3 bt VOBA FC 2
Strikers 4 bt Thundercatz 1
