Deepankar Sharda
Chandigarh, November 21
RoundGlass Punjab Football Club (RGPFC) drubbed down FC Imphal City, Manipur, by five goals in the opening tie of the Administrator’s Challenge Cup All-India Football Tournament at the Sector 46 Sports Complex.
Another team disqualified, now 16 participants
A day after a team from Jammu amp; Kashmir was disqualified after more than four of their players were found to be over-aged, a team from Haryana was disqualified for the same reason— hours before the opening of the tournament. A medical committee allegedly found more than four over-aged players in a Haryana team, claimed sources. Out of the 18 participating teams, only 16 have been allowed to participate in the ongoing tourney.
The revised fixtures now stands: (Group A) FC Imphal City Manipur; Dombivali Football and Sports Association, Maharatsra; United Punjab FC, Pathankot and RoundGlass Football Club, Punjab; (Group B) MK Sporting, Kerala; Dashmesh Martial Sports Academy; BR Ambedkar Football Academy, Nadia (West Bengal); IYA Manipur; (Group C) MK Sambhalpur Football Academy; Odisha, Chandigarh Football Association; Sudeva Delhi Football Club; Kuljeet Football Academy, Amritsar; (Group D) Chandigarh Football Academy; Muslim Football Club, Malerkotla; Zinc Football Academy, Udaipur; Football School of India, Mumbai.
The winning side registered a 6-1 win over Imphal in a completely dominated match. Just after the first whistle of the match, RGPFC lads got hold of the ball and played small passes to gain momentum. Their tactics worked as striker Singamayum Shami scored the first goal of the match in the 6th minute.
Just four minutes later, Omang Dodum doubled the lead as he kicked the ball in the nets from the mouth of the Manipur’s goal. Two early goals helped the RGPFC lads to carry some experiments as they started playing long passes and used their both wingers quite often. Once again, the outcome was positive as Shami found back of the net in the 28th minute. Manipur’s custodian was helpless in spotting and stopping a fine finish by Shami.
Having a three goal lead, RGPFC lads went a little relaxed and the Manipur outfit took advantage of it. Just before entering the lemon break, Lucky pulled off one goal for Manipur, which was enough to help the side to not to lose the fighting spirit as the score line was reduced to 1-3.
However, after the 15-minute break, the RGPFC came out strong to give a string message to other teams. Shami netted his third and team’s fourth goal, while in the 68th minute Dodum converted a penalty-kick to extend the lead to 5-1. In the 76th minute, Vishu Sharma had his name on the score-sheet as netted team’s sixth and final goal to confirm an easy win for the side.
Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by Vinod P Kavle, Secretary Sports, Sanjay Tandon, Chairman, Sports’ Advisory Committee, Chandigarh, in the presence of Dr Sunil Rayat, Joint Director Sports, Chandigarh Sports Department.
