The Amater League: Gameweek 3 Division 2 Match Reports

Action from FC Kudlu v Diablos FC

Athlos United v FC Brunton

Score: Athlos United (4) – (1) FC Brunton

Scorers:

Athlos United (Srinath TV 25’, Arun Thomas 47’, Imdad KP 48’, Sanjay Prabhakar 53’)

FC Brunton (Gautam Rego 32’)

Athlos United picked up their first win of the season with a 4-1 thrashing of Brunton. Athlos had previously lost one and drawn one and needed a win in their bags to keep hopes of a promotion alive and they did exactly that showing form of old as they swept aside Brunton with their attacking prowess.

Brunton went toe to toe in the first half and when Gautam Rego equalised at the start of the second half, things seemingly looked up but they failed to keep momentum going and were put on the back foot by a resilient Athlos side that weren’t going to lose any more points. Brunton need to solidify their defence and need Karun Sondhi back in central defence rather than filling in as a substitute keeper.

Imdad KP was excellent up front picking up the man of the match award and was supported well by Srinath TV, while Arun Thomas was excellent in midfield. Brunton lost composure in the second half with teammates turning on each other at every mistake and that’s never a good sign, but we do expect them to bounce back next match having had a week in the think tank.

Man of the Match: Imdad KP (Athlos United)


Emdee Al-Fateh v C2 FC

Score: Emdee Al-Fateh (1) – (3) C2 FC

Scorers:

Emdee Al-Fateh (Pratik Borse 11’)

C2 FC (Eric Lahouri 25’, Kiran Bale (OG) 45’, Aashish 55’)

The surprise result of the day saw C2 FC come from behind to pick up all three points against title rivals Emdee Al-Fateh. A close match was expected, but C2 FC took control of the game in the final quarter to pick up a big win. Yeshwanth Mekala was in excellent form linking up play and combined well with Eric who has been lethal in front of goal.

Al-Fateh will regret fielding a weakened side in the game and in a division where competition is incredibly intense every lost point could be a position lost. They, however, did look confident in the first quarter of the game with Pratik Borse opening the score sheet in the 11th minute but that just woke up C2 FC from their slumber and they were point on after that. Eric scored the equalizer five minutes before half-time and gave them the lifeline they needed going into halftime.

Al-Fateh’s defence led by Kiran Bale was resilient in the second half and thwarted away C2’s attacks, but a deflection saw the same man turn in Mekala’s shot into his own net. Al-Fateh had a couple of close chances after that including hitting the crossbar but having not converted their chances they paid the price with C2 FC doubling their lead and securing a win.

Man of the Match: Yeshwanth Mekala (C2 FC)


Mercurial FC v Titans FC

Mercurial FC (0) – (1) Titans FC

Scorers: Titans FC (Akshay Shettar 50’)

Titans grabbed pole position in the table after picking up a slender win against Mercurial FC. With Al-Fateh having lost previously in the day they knew a win would send them top of the table and they started exactly with that in mind but the Mercurial defence was extremely efficient with the midfield helping out in the back throughout the first half.

Titans attacking threat mainly is headed by the double headed monster that is Akshay Kukke and Anirudh Krishnadas; both are excellent dribblers but as Mercurial showed when you crowd them out they become wasteful and Titans could not find a breakthrough. Mercurial themselves had a couple of chances and their plan almost worked but that final touch was lacking.

Titans did find the back of the net late in the game when Akshay Shettar managed to break the deadlock in the 50th minute and ensuring Titans picked up all three points. Mercurial would feel disappointed at not coming out of this game with a point after the excellent teamwork they put in kept Titans at bay, but they have shown every intention of getting back to Division 1 in their first attempt.

Man of the Match: Akshay Shettar (Titans FC


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Garden Boys FC vs FC Sparta

Score: Garden Boys FC (3) – (2) FC Sparta

Scorers: Garden Boys (Richard Abraham 48’, Madhu Thammaiah 51,60’)

FC Sparta (Prayag Subbaiya 2’, Benjamin George 18’)

The game of the day saw Garden Boys come back from two goals down to beat FC Sparta. Sparta looked impressive in the first half and were coasting to a victory with Pragath Subbaiya and Benjamin George scoring for them in the first half. They came out at halftime on cruise control but that led to their downfall with Richard G pulling one back with 12 minutes to go.

The rest is history with Man of the Match Madhu Thammaiah scoring a late brace to help his side to a second victory of the season. Madhu was excellent in midfield especially in the second half and controlled the game from the centre. Sparta got too complacent in the final quarter of the game and this is the second such as instance where they have thrown away a two-goal lead to lose the game; they lost the Brunton in GW 1 after being two goals up.

Garden Boys were missing a few key players but the depth in their squad showed and with this win they move up the table. We are expecting this side throw up a few more surprise results before the season is done. Sparta, on the other hand, need to get back on track with 3 points in 3 games just not enough for their promotion hopes. There are still 8 games left in the season but Sparta really needs to re-strategize their defensive deployments.

Man of the Match: Madhu Thammaiah (Garden Boys FC)


BFE United v Rebels FC

Score: BFE United (0) – (5) Rebels FC

Scorers: Rebels FC (Elizar Bareh 43’, Riva Edjique 45’, Sanoj R 50’, 54’, Deepak R 60’)

Rebels led a late onslaught onto BFE United scoring all five goals in the last quarter of the game to pick up all three points. BFE were strong defensively in the first half and kept the attacking duo of Riva Edjique and Elizar Bareh at bay. The back four of Jijo, Arvind, Abhijeet and Alok were compact at the back and substitute keeper Praney Thapa excelled in his role.

Rebels changed strategy at halftime and kept possession of the ball more which eventually led to Elizar’s opener after a slick one-two with Riva. The second goal was again a combination of Elizar and Riva with the latter finding the back of the net this time around. The goals poured in steadily after that with Sanoj picking up a brace before last minute a goal by Deepak to make it 5.

BFE have improved with each game and would feel unlucky to have lost especially by the margin they did, but they need to find solace in their first half performance that showed complete team effort. This was Rebels' first win of the season, and we expect it not to be the last but if they have any hopes of catching up rivals fighting for promotion spots they need add the points quickly.

Man of the Match: Elizar Bareh (Rebels FC)


FC Kudlu v Diablos FC

Score: FC Kudlu (2) – (1) Diablos FC

Scorers:

FC Kudlu (Nishant Panwar 19’, Ashish PS 33’)

Diablos FC (Tony Lobo 54’)

The final match of GW 2 saw Kudlu pick up an important (and surprise) victory over Diablos. Kudlu got off to a rocky start, but Diablos could not capitalise on the chances they had, and they paid the price when Man of the Match Nishant Panwar opened the scoring in the 19th minute. The game got scrappy towards the end of the first half and the Kudlu led the game with a one-goal advantage.

The second half saw Diablos make some substitutes and this worsened the situation for them with Ashish PS scoring a second for Kudlu minutes after the restart. Diablos then kicked into gear and went in search of a goal and by the time it came it was a little too late. Tony Lobo scored in the 54th minute for them and the last five minutes was tense for Kudlu, but they managed to hold on.

Diablos came into this game as favourites as they did in their previous two but their form has been poor. They seem to have lost understanding between the players on the pitch but that could be due to all the new additions this season and if that is the case we expect them to improve in the next few weeks. Kudlu have now put in two solid performances back-to-back, and if they continue picking up points at this rate we will see them fighting for one of the promotion spots come end of season.

Man of the Match: Nishant Panwar (FC Kudlu)

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Edited by Staff Editor