The inaugural weekend of Division 3 saw some high-scoring affairs with 34 goals being scored.
Decathlon FC 5-0 Oldman’s Park FC
Scorers
Decathlon FC (Sultan Barnes 12’, 58’, Jilson D 17’, 35’, David K 26’)
Decathlon FC vs Oldman’s Park FC marked the start of Division 3 of TAL and with all the teams eager to climb the ladder early on in the season the matches were sure to be fierce and competitive with the teams looking to make their presence felt.
Decathlon FC were making their TAL debut playing their first ever match hoping to establish their side as a winning team while Oldman’s Park FC were coming off an unsatisfactory friendlies campaign and were looking to turn things around.
The match started off with Decathlon FC wasting no time to get on the attack putting the pressure on Oldman’s who were unable to find their footing. It wasn’t very long until Sultan Barnes found the back of the net in the 12th minute soon after which Jilson D added to the tally in the 17th minute putting Oldman’s backs firmly against a wall.
It was right after this goal that Oldman’s came back swinging making a few noteworthy attacks thanks to new signings Ammar and Dennis that much to their dismay didn’t amount to much. Things took a nasty turn for the worse when David K of Decathlon scored just before the half-time whistle in the 26th minute putting the game well out of reach for Oldman’s .
The second half started with a demoralised Oldman’s side looking to salvage what was left of the game but ran into more trouble with Jilson D adding another goal to his list in the 35th minute and Sultan Barnes putting the icing on the cake with one last goal before the final whistle making the score 5-0.
Man of the Match: Sultan Barnes (Decathlon FC)
Jain University 11-0 Bullring AFC
Scorers
Jain University (Abilash J 13’, John Goldberg 15’, Vignesh V 20’, 25’,34’, 38',42’,48’, Harish JU 40’, Narayan PL 52’, Sudhir R 57’)
The second game of Division 3 was between Jain University and Bullring AFC which can only be described as a one-sided knockout fest. Bullring AFC were looking to make their TAL debut hoping to get a good start but were faced with a mammoth task. Jain University took things to a whole new level by making examples of their opponents to send a message to the rest of the teams.
The match kicked off with Jain utterly dominating possession of the ball making Bullring run around to even get a touch of the ball, they kept the scoreboard ticking like a clock with back to back goals from the start to the finish with short intervals of buildup play in between each goal.
Bullring to their credit did put up a fight but silly mistakes and unforced errors from their goal keeper put the match well out of reach early on in the game which left Jain facing a down throttled team with no hope for victory giving them an easy path to victory.
Vignesh V was the most noticeable player on the pitch that made the most of all his opportunities scoring an incredible double hat-trick and securing the man of the match award.
Man of the Match: Vignesh Vicky (Jain University)
Bangalore City FC 7-0 Joga Bonito
Scorers
Bangalore City FC (Alassane Kanudji 11’, Pritam Maiti14’, Seye Kire 40’, 48’, Somipam Chahum 52’, 60’, James Kapongo 54’)
The third game was the much-awaited BCFC v. Joga Bonito game. A lot of curiosity had been developed over the BCFC team after their impressive performance during their friendlies campaign and it was much awaited to see just what they were capable of once the season started. Their opponents, on the other hand, were looking to find their chemistry in order to bring out their full potential.
The match kicked off with City FC being quick to implement their coach’s Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (KNVB) inspired tactics making optimum use of the flanks and disrupting the Joga formation with a barrage of attacks. This resulted in Alassane Kanudji and Pritam Maiti scoring in quick succession in the 11th and 14th minute of the first half after which Joga did their best to attempt a comeback with some noteworthy play by Mohammed that kept the City FC defense on their toes.
The second half, however, just spelt disaster for Joga with the City FC’s coach making tactical changes to keep his squad fresh and active. This saw their star winger Seye Kire score back to back goals in the span of 8 minutes which stole the hope that Joga were trying to hold on to.
Somipam Chahum was quick to capitalise on their downed opponents when he scored in the 40th minute followed by James Kapongpo 2 minutes later and it was Somipam Chahum that sealed the deal with a goal in the 60th minute.
Although it was a goal fest for BCFC, it must be noted that the 7 goals scored was 7 opportunities that were converted out of literally 20 chances, one of which was a missed penalty, so that’s something the coach is going to want to work on with his team while Joga Bonito tries and turns things around during their next game.
Man of the Match: Seye Kire (Bangalore City FC)
Vipers FC 7-0 Bangalore Kop
Scorers
Vipers FC (Salim V 19’, 59’, Kuka V 23’, 52’, Jeremy Noel 37’, Prajwal Nagaraju 40’,Jyotirmay Sengar 48’)
The swag masters Vipers were set to take on the Liverpool fan club, having already faced off against each other in the practice friendlies with Vipers emerging the victorious side thrashing their opponents 11-0. This match was set to be a revenge match for the Kopites and a chance for Vipers to prove that it could be a repeat performance.
Having made a couple of changes to their squad Bangalore Kop were ready to put their side to the test while Vipers were looking to clinch an easy 3 points.
The match kicked off with Bangalore Kop showing clear signs of improvement as they passed the ball around with much more confidence and accuracy and made Vipers feel the pressure as they tracked the ball making sure their opponents didn’t have time to take a breather but Vipers quickly realized that they weren’t going to have it easy and upped the tempo when Salim V found the back of the next in the 19th minute followed by his brother 4 minutes later.
The Kopites realised that things were slipping out of their hands and tried for some damage control but a screamer from Jeremy Noel in the 37th minute quickly put an end to that. Prajwal Nagaraju, with his low center of gravity and quick feet, dribbled past the defence with ease and netted one in the 40th minute followed by Jyotirmay Sengar converting a free kick to extend his side’s lead.
With 10 minutes left on the clock, the Tanzanian brothers Salim and Kuka replicated what they did in the first half with each of them scoring a goal each and putting the game to bed. Kop doesn’t seem too demoralised though because word on the street is that they are already over the loss and were spotted training the very next day for a more successful show next week.
Engineers United 1-0 Phoenix FC
Scorers
Engineers United (Anirudh Balakka 13’)
Engineers United vs Phoenix FC was sure to be a promising game since both teams were looking good coming off the pre-season friendlies with similar performances, Engineers had the clear upper hand since their team is used to each other’s game which would make things difficult for Phoenix FC that were still working with a relatively new squad that needed to find their chemistry.
The match kicked off with both teams starting strong trying to keep possession of the ball. Engineers were moving the ball around well, creating opportunities but nothing came to fruition until the 13th minute were Anirudh Balakka took advantage of a defensive lapse and scored for his team.
The rest of the half saw Kenneth Wong use his quick feet to give the Phoenix defense a hard time but much to their credit they were able to thwart any attempts at goal. The start of the second half saw a frustrated Phoenix desperately trying to regain the lost goal but the Engineers defence was engineered to perfection and they simply did not give the Phoenix attackers any room to develop scoring opportunities.
Thus the match was decided by Anirudh’s lone goal giving the Engineers those much needed 3 points while Phoenix are left to rethink their strategy after that narrow defeat which could have gone differently.
Man of the Match: Abhishek Tambat (Engineers United)
Sunday Boys 3-0 Amigos FC
Scorers
Sunday Boys (Gowri Shankar 3’, Shane Kurian 25’, Prathap Chandan 45’)
The last match of Division 3 saw Amigos FC take on Sunday Boys in what promised to be an epic clash under the beautiful flood light arena.
Amigos FC were coming off a jittery start during the pre-season friendlies but were training hard to be at their optimum best. As for their opponents, the Sunday Boys were making their re-entry into TAL after a 3 season hiatus and curiosity was in the air to see whether they still had it in them not to mention the enigma of their re-vamped squad had everyone wondering just what they were capable of.
The match kicked off and within 3 minutes Amigos didn’t know what hit them when Gowri Shankar slipped one past the keeper giving his side the early lead while Amigos were quick to regain their composure and wanted to respond with a goal of their own but despite several attacks they were unable to crack the defense.
The Sunday Boys stuck to the basics and passed the ball around freely putting their opponents under pressure which eventually led to a defensive lapse and Shane Kurian was in the right spot at the right time to take full advantage of it adding to his teams tally just before the first half whistle was blown.
The second half had some added intensity as both teams were found sledging each other keeping the referees on their toes but Sunday Boys remained unfazed as Prathap Chandan put away the game in the 45th minute with a splendid goal giving his side the much needed 3 points early on in the season.
Amigos will have to rethink their tactics for their next game and really up the tempo if they are to compete in the top tier of what seems to shaping up into a super competitive Division 3.
Man of the Match: Amal Shahid (Sunday Boys)
