Asif Saheer

Kozhikode: Desperately needing a win to boost their chances to stay afloat in the National League, State Bank of Travancore (SBT) crushed Vasco 4-1 in the National Football League on Wednesday.

Playing an attacking game, SBT, left at the bottom of the points table, seized the initiative right from the start. They found the net in the 28th minute through striker N.P. Pradeep.

Sidney Rodrigues brought in the equaliser for the Goan team in the 62nd minute, but Mohammed Rafi gave the bankmen the lead just six minutes later.

Growing in confidence, SBT?s Anil Kumar netted another in the 87th minute to further increase the lead.

Vasco tried hard to reduce the margin, but Asif Saheer came up with a perfect hit to seal the issue in favour of the home team with barely a minute left.

SBT?s M.A. Abdul Hakeem was declared Man-of-the-Match.

With this win SBT moved up to 11th position with 13 points on a better goal average. Vasco, with same number of points, dropped to the bottom.

The bankmen will now take on Mahindra United on Monday.

Meanwhile, buoyed by their win against Mohun Bagan, Mahindra United are looking to go all out when they face table toppers Dempo in the 17th round of the National Football League on Thursday at the Nehru Stadium in Margao, adds another report.

Dempo on the other hand will be looking to maintain one point lead over East Bengal and rely on top striker Ranty Martins and in-form R.C. Prakash to find the net. Ranty is two goals behind Sporting Clube de Goa's Dudu Omagbeimi, the highest scorer with 13 goals.

(PTI)