The Hindu : Sport : Karnataka holds Punjab

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 14, 2005

Sport

Sport

Karnataka holds Punjab

A. Vinod

CLEARING THE HURDLE: Punjab's Chandrajit Kumar (left) struggles to find the balance while tackling Karnataka's Mahendra Mani. — Photo: Mahesh Harilal

KOCHI: The welcome sun, after the wet weather on Saturday, failed to shine brightly on Karnataka at the Jawaharlal Nehru international stadium here on Sunday morning. And despite calling the shots almost all through, it was forced to come back from behind and settle for a 2-2 draw with Punjab in Group B of the Air-India Express-60th Santosh Trophy.

The conditions were quite tough, what with the playing surface after the late night match between Manipur and Assam on Saturday virtually resembling a ploughed field and the early morning dew leaving the turf totally soaked. However the Karnataka players worked themselves to find a rhythm in the early stages of the match and started dictating the terms.

This early thrust was made possible by the hard work put in by medios Xavier Vijayakumar and Satish Kumar with their skipper S.Venkatesh also chipping in with some of his patented gilt-edged through passes. Up front, the side's star striker, R.C. Prakash, also seemed to be in great form though he had not fully recovered from a recent bout of viral fever.

Punjab struggled to make an impact, being forced to defend its citadel with the collective effort of its back four and its midfielders. And whenever Gurpreet Singh did try for a breakthrough, his onward march was nipped in the bud by the wily Karnataka defenders by deploying the offside trap with finesse.

Karnataka failed to convert the many chances that came its way. Due credit should also be given to the Punjab defence for the excellent manner in which it supported its custodian Karanjit Singh on more than one occasion.

It was a goalline save by Parminder Singh (Jr.) that saved Punjab from the embarrassing position of going one-down within the first ten minutes of play. Prakash had come with a perfectly executed volley from the top of the box only to be intervened by Sunil Kumar for a corner. As the ball came in from the flag, Prakash was once again in position to head the ball home beyond the reach of Karnajit. It was at this stage that a back-pedalling Parminder rescued his side from disaster.

Karnataka had another opportunity to surge ahead when Prakash sent a pass to Nanda Kumar. But the inexperienced Karnataka striker wasted the opportunity with just an open goal in front.

A shocker

Karnataka was forced to pay for all its lapses when in the 27th minute its custodian Gumpe Rime was surprised with a long-ranger by an overlapping Taranjit Singh from the top of the box.

Surprisingly, Punjab took no initiative to take advantage of this slender lead right through the remaining period of the first-half or after resumption. Karnataka did profit from such a situation but not to the extent of finding an equaliser until Venkatesh succeeded with a pile-driver off a pass from substitute Mahendra Mani. This 63rd minute reverse saw Punjab wake up and it regained its lost advantage by forcing the ball into the rival half regularly.

The last year's runner-up found it difficult to totally dominate its well-entrenched rival as Karnataka held a noticeable advantage in the midfield. However, Punjab still managed to squeeze itself into the lead once again shortly thereafter as defender Sunil Kumar of Karnataka failed to intercept a cross by Punjab's Charanjit Kumar from the right. Taking quick possession, Gurpreet Singh was wise enough to backpass the ball to Yadwinder Singh, who made no mistake.

Forced with the task of finding yet another equaliser, Karnataka struggled again as its forwards failed in providing the finishing touches. But as luck would have it, the side was able to draw level for a second time when Zenith put Xavier Vijaya Kumar with possession through the left and the latter relayed the ball to Rajendra Prasad, waiting near the Punjab goal.

The weather conditions turned murky once again late into the afternoon, forcing cancellation of both the matches — Uttar Pradesh v Delhi and Bengal v Maharashtra — scheduled for the evening. The decision to postpone these matches was announced by the KFA president, K.M. I. Mather after a meeting he had with the Match Commissioner, B.N.G. Neogi and the manager of the four teams.

The Match Commissioner would also inspect the FACT ground, Udyogamandal, to gain first hand knowledge about the facilities on offer at that stadium on Monday morning. In the event of Mr. Neogi being satisfied, one of the two postponed matches would be played at the Udyogamandal ground on Monday afternoon itself. A final decision, in this regard, would, however, be taken only tomorrow morning.

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