KNOCKOUT FOOTBALL
Guwahati, Aug. 11: Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) SC today annexed the 11th N.N. Bhattacharyya Knockout Football Tournament defeating Assam Police Blues 5-4 via tie-breaker in the finals at Nehru Stadium here.
The regulation time of the match ended 0-0 with hardly any action to cheer the 500-odd crowd. With the ball confined mostly to the midfield as both sides played more defensively, the first real move by the policemen came in the 25th minute when Lohit Taye appeared close to scoring with a right-footer from the right flank off a Karuna Goyari pass. The shot missed the post by a whisker.
A few minutes later, Goyari got a scoring opportunity receiving a Taye pass, but his attempt was ably cleared by ASEB defenders Biswanath Karmakar and Ansarul Mula.
The second half started with the powermen making some effort to make inroads and skipper Sanjay Boro managed to call police goalkeeper Amit Narzary into action by taking the first attempt at the police net off a backpass by Syed Ansar in the 60th minute. Narzary, however, made no mistake in diving full length to fist away the grounder.
The powermen squandered another opportunity in the 80th minute by Sanatomba Sharma who was on the prowl unmarked on the left flank to find a cross from Ansar. However, his shot lacked the precision to find the net.
In the penalty shootout, N. Bikash Singh took the first shot for Assam Police, only to shoot it wide. Kusha Rabha, Kajaigek Rongmei, M Nganthoiba Singha and Joseph Maslai found the net. For ASEB, Ansarul Mula, Rakesh Das, Biplob Kundu, Sanjay Boro and Daoga Brahma netted their shots. Kusha Rabha was named the best player of the tournament.
