All the 16 teams who had competed yesterday in their first matches, played their second games at the two venues – Dr. Ambedkar Stadium and New Wellington Camp ground in New Delhi on the 9th day of the 57th edition of the Subroto Cup International Football Tournament.
Out of the 8 matches played on the day, it was the SAI East (Salt Lake) team from Kolkata who came back into form as they defeated St Xavier’s School boys from Ahmedabad by a margin of 5-0 in Pool E. The Maharana Pratap Sports College, Raipur (Dehradun) also continued their dominance in Pool G at the tournament as they defeated an IPSC side by 4-2 in a morning match at the New Wellington Camp ground.
However, the Ambedkar Stadium saw as many as 18 goals in a single game as the Government Model School boys from Chandigarh humiliated the Nirmalamata High School from Daman & Diu by a scoreline of 18-0. The victory for the Chandigarh side means that they are now very close from qualifying for the quarterfinals from Pool E, with two wins under their belt.
In Pool H, it has been the Malaysian outfit National Football Development Programme (NFDP) team that has been the dominant force as they won their second game against Delhi with a 7-0 scoreline as strikers Najumuddin and Sayazvi scored two goals each for the victors at the Ambedkar Stadium.
In an earlier match at the same venue, Mizoram’s Government Middle School impressed all as they registered their first win of the competition after defeating Saifai Sports College from Ettawah (UP) 4-0 in Pool F.
Odisha’s NCC Directorate team also registered their second win as they beat Sainik School from Imphal 3-0, which has placed them atop the group with two wins to their name in Pool G. However, Uttarakhand’s MPSC also have six points from their two games and will be the favourites to qualify for the next round.
Things looked positive for Meghalaya’s Lawmei Secondary School in Pool F, as they won their second game against a Navodaya team from Manipur by a margin of 2-1.
The stand-out match of the day was between the IPSC team and Uttarakhand’s Maharana Pratap Sports College, who played out a 2-4 thriller in favour of the latter. IPSC’s Dorjee struck twice inside the first 25 minutes but Uttarakhand managed to equalise through Yash Bisht’s brace at the stroke of half-time.
The game started to open up and the Uttarakhand side were successful in making the most of their chances as they squeezed two more past the IPSC goalkeeper through Wajid Ali and Ajay Arya.
As the teams play their third games of the tournament tomorrow, it will be important for all the teams to keep their run going, and to make sure they get the three points on the table.
