KOLKATA, Dec 12: On a warm sunny afternoon Southern Samity and George Telegraph locked horns at the East Bengal Ground. George already through to the next round while Southern needed at least a draw to secure their place in the next round.
Southern Samity kicked-off the match and lost the ball immediately. George took advantage of it as Stanly ran past the back line and was one-on-one with the goalkeeper. But the goalkeeper had other plan and a brave sliding tackle kept Stanly from taking the shot. Moments later, Stanly got another chance to test the goalkeeper but the goalkeeper was equal to it as he blocked off the shot with strong hands.
At the 12th minute, Aman saw himself unmarked and a clear angle to hit home. He tested the goalkeeper with a pile driver from 18 yards but a fully stretched Arnab Das kept Southern in the game. At the 25th minute, Dipendu sent a sweet ball in the box and Stanly found the ball with his head with a dive but a sloppy touch made it went down as a miss.
As George had the lion’s share of possession, frustration slowly crept in and it finally was displayed when Souvik Bal, Southern Samity right back, got his second yellow of the game after a sloppy tackle.
At the 60th minute, Krishanu Naskar hit home from a measured corner taken by Dipendu and this gave George the much awaited lead.
The goal was followed by a free-kick being awarded to Southern Samity from 20 yards out. As the free-kick was taken, it almost got in but the goalkeeper was equal to it cleared it finding Stanly. Stanly sprinted like a bolt and at the same time Dipendu, Krishanu and Tanmoy ran at the Southern Defense and it was a four against two battle. Stanly passed it to Dipendu and he lobbed it in the box from the left to Krishanu as he flicked it to Tanmoy and he found the back of the net.
The complexion of the game was changed as Southern Samity attacked and deployed all their men in the attack. George was pressurized as they dropped back to defend their clean sheet. The pressure finally broke through the George defense in the form of Rudy who was left unmarked in the box and scored for Samity to reduce the lead by one.
The game ended 2-1 in favour of George Telegraph and Tanmoy Ghosh was awarded the Man of the Match. “We will go forward to win this tournament and it means a lot to us” he shared this thoughts when asked about his plan for the tournament.
