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| A moment from the match between NF Railway (in white) and Oil India at Nehru Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday. Picture by UB Photos |
Guwahati, Sept. 26: Oil India Football Club, Duliajan stormed into the semi-finals of the 61st Bharat Ratna Lokapriya Bordoloi Trophy Tournament, blanking Super League champions NF Railway Sports Club 2-0 in the second quarter-final at Nehru Stadium here today.
In a lacklustre match, OIL would have won by a bigger margin had it played to its potential.
The first half saw an even battle as NFR custodian K. Bijan Singh saved OIL’s Mathew Thang Jom’s free kick in the 14th minute. The railmen countered in the 21st minute as the OIL defence cleared shots by Sibra Narzary and Jelendra Brahma.
Two minutes later, OIL striker Manas Manjit Chetia made a meal of a scoring opportunity off a pass from Jayanta Basumatary.
OIL opened account through a penalty by Zaidin Hmar in the 40th minute, thanks to an error of judgement by the referee who ruled that Manas was brought down inside the box.
In the second half, NFR could not match their opponents. OIL were flashy and kept up the pressure. A goalmouth melee in the 69th minute saw NFR go down 0-2, after an alert Manas was in the right position to head one in.
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