It is getting ever more crowded at the top after 6 rounds of games with five teams realistically fighting for the three promotion spots. Al-Fateh look firm favorites to clinch top spot after they pounded a helpless Lawless team 9-1. The Titans reinvigorated their title chances with a battling victory over fellow contenders Diablos FC.
FC Bengal and Athlos United still remain in contention after drawing their games against Grasshoppers and FCB Sparta respectively. In other results, Joras shocked a much fancied Brunton side while it was all square between FC Kudlu and Netbusters FC.
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Earlier in the day, Rare Dare FC put one over local rivals Samba FC with a comprehensive 3-0 win in a postponed Division 1 game.
Division 1:
Samba FC 0-3 Rare Dare FC
A second half hat-trick by Rare Dare’s Satish Kumar was enough to settle the postponed Division 1 game between Samba and Rare Dare FC. After a scoreless and somewhat subdued first half, the game sprung into life with the introduction of substitute Satish Kumar, who in the space of 9 minutes scored thrice to settle the game.
This is the first time Samba have fallen to successive defeats and conceded more than two goals in a game. This result also sees them drop down to 9th while Rare Dare climb up to 7th in the standings. Rare Dare are building up some good momentum with their second win on the bounce and look to be out of the relegation zone for now.
Scorers:
Satish Kumar 44’,47’,53’ (Rare Dare FC)
Division 2:
Grasshoppers FC 1-1 FC Bengal
The first Division 2 game of the day featuring Grasshoppers FC and FC Bengal ended in a stalemate, probably a fair result at the end of the day. It took just 7 minutes for Ryesh Venkatraman to open the scoring with a peach of a free kick. Though Grasshoppers then had a lot of half decent chances, they could not capitalize on them and the score remained unchanged till half time.
FC Bengal’s failure to score could be directly attributed to the absence of striker Saheed Adeoye and this game probably highlighted how reliant his team are upon him to provide the firepower. After the match resumed though, Bengal grew into the game slowly and were finally rewarded when Arjun scored a great goal from outside the box in the 50th minute, Taofeek providing him with the assist after some good work in the flanks.
The game ended with a 1-1 scoreline, in what was to be the first of three draws for the day. Both teams retain their pre-match positions 3rd (FC Bengal) and 7th (Grasshoppers FC).
Scorers:
Ryesh Venkatraman 7’ (Grasshoppers FC)
Arjun Sehgal 50’ (FC Bengal)
Athlos United 2-2 FC Sparta Bengaluru
Things ended all square between Athlos United and FCB Sparta in the third game of the day. Athlos were clear favorites going into this one, but the final result highlights how well Sparta have come together as a team during the course of the season. It was Athlos who took the lead through Imdad in the 20th minute and things looked on course for his team until the 42nd minute when Benjamin equalized with a well –worked goal.
Athlos even re-took the lead 3 minutes later through Anirban, but the fight in the Sparta team came to the fore as Lalit Braganza made full use of a free kick from the edge of the box and sent the ball flying into the net 9 minutes from time. They then held fort until full time, holding their opponents to a well-earned draw. This result disrupts Athlos’ good run and they drop down to 5th, just above Sparta in 6th, who are slowly but surely building up to a mid-table finish.
Scorers:
Imdad KK 20’; Anirban Mishra 45’ (Athlos United)
Benjamin George 42’; Lalit Braganza 51’ (FC Sparta Bengaluru)
Netbusters FC 1-1 FC Kudlu
The game between Netbusters and FC Kudlu ended in yet another draw as the teams shared the honours in an evenly contested encounter. The first half did not see much created in the form of chances although Kudlu looked to be the more dangerous team. The teams went into half-time locked at 0-0 and the game needed a spark.
That was provided by substitute Irshad as he scored 3 minutes after the restart. Swaraj, the Netbusters keeper though, made it easy for Irshad by coming way off his mark, paving the way for the goal. Gigen Dev pulled his team level in the 45th minute from a well-taken free kick to even things up in the game.
Nikhil, Kudlu’s star forward created some good chances before the game finally ended with a 1-1 score. Netbusters are in 11th and Kudlu join them in the bottom three in 10th.
Scorers:
Gigen Dev 45’ (Netbusters FC)
Irshad Karipal 33’ (FC Kudlu)
FC Brunton 1 - 4 Joras
FC Brunton were handed a dressing down by an out of form Joras side in the first game after lunch. FC Brunton were fancied to win this one, but things went horribly out of plan right from the start when Divij turned the ball into his own net in the third minute. They did equalize 2 minutes later through Mohit Ahuja but that was the lone bright spot in the game for them.
From then on, it was Joras who dictated play in what eventually turned to be an ill-tempered affair with two players banished to the stands in the second half. One of them, Joras’ Anil Kumar received his marching orders for his involvement in an on-field scuffle, but not before he put his team ahead in the 16th minute. Nithin KT and captain Achyuta provided the finishing touches on what was Joras’ second win of the campaign.
They are in 9th place and look set to fight for a mid-table finish if they can sustain this form. For Brunton though, this will be rude shock as they let go off a great opportunity to climb up the standings.
Scorers:
Mohit Ahuja 5' (FC Brunton)
Divij Muthappa (OG) 3'; Anil Kumar 16'; Nithin KT 46'; Achyuta Dhanvantri 58' (Joras)
Al-Fateh 9 – 1 FC Lawless
It was a Nihal Colaco show when Al-Fateh took on a hapless FC Lawless side in the penultimate game of the day. This was always going to be a tough task for the Lawless side but the manner of the defeat would not have been predicted by even the most optimistic of the Al-Fateh players. Nihal ran riot over the Lawless defence as he helped himself to 6 goals, time and again bypassing the backline with ease.
His pace and acceleration were too much for the defence to handle and they were left chasing shadows time and again. To compound Lawless’ problems, Tariq scored a brace while Zaib picked up a goal to take the score to an astounding 9-0.
Nakul Ganapathy scored what was a mere consolation goal for Lawless in the 58th minute to end the game 9-1. Al-Fateh remain the team to beat this season and with just 5 games to go, they just might have one hand on the trophy already.
Scorers:
Nihal Colaco 14’,16’, 22’, 38’, 39’, 53’; Zaib Sherief 20’; Tariq Sheriff 30’, 41’ (Al-Fateh)
Nakul Ganapathy 58’ (FC Lawless)
Titans FC 1-0 Diablos FC
The blockbuster game was reserved for the last Titans FC took on Diablos FC. Diablos were recently dislodged from the top and have been struggling to hit the heights they reached earlier in terms of performances. Titans have been steady although they have lost a couple of games along the way.
This was going to be a tight game and it turned out to be just that. It took a 56th-minute goal from substitute Anand Harris to settle this tie as Diablos fell to a disappointing defeat although they might have felt they deserved a point from this one. This is a big win for Titans, lifting them up to second place with a realistic shot at the title.
But they need to keep up their form as they are ahead by just a solitary point, with three teams tied below them on 11 points, Diablos in 4th included. Diablos need to pick themselves up and string a few results together as they will not want the agony of missing out on promotion for the second season in a row.
Scorers:
Anand Harris 56' (Titans FC)
Standings (After Gameweek 6)
Pos. | Name | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
1 | Al-Fateh | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 3 | 25 | 16 |
2 | Titans FC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
3 | FC Bengal | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 11 |
4 | Diablos FC | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 11 |
5 | Athlos United | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 11 |
6 | FCB Sparta | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 8 |
7 | Grasshoppers FC | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 7 |
8 | FC Brunton | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 13 | -6 | 6 |
9 | Joras | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 22 | -14 | 6 |
10 | FC Kudlu | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | -5 | 5 |
11 | Netbusters FC | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | -5 | 2 |
12 | FC Lawless | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 20 | -15 |
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