Ten-man Tollygunge stave off Mahindra challenge

S Ayyappa Swamy in Bombay

Last year Harish Rao's Mahindra & Mahindra side went into their last match with a chance to finish as high as third. This year, before the 22nd round, the rechristened Mahindra United had a reasonable chance to finish fifth, provided they beat Tollygunge Agragami in what would be the last match of the fifth National Football League for both teams.

But at the Cooperage on Sunday, both sides played out a partly dull, partly entertaining 1-1 draw, which proved to be beneficial for the Calcutta outfit. Mahindra United finished with 25 points from 22 matches, while Tollygunge had 24 from as many. Now Mahindra can at best finish seventh or slip as low as ninth. It all hinges on the result of the match between Mohun Bagan and Indian Telephone Industries.

All the remaining five matches of the NFL will be played on Monday. And to ensure that there is no hanky-panky, the All-India Football Federation has scheduled all five matches for 1600 IST.

After two successive wins in Goa, much was expected from Mahindra United, under stopgap coach Rao. But, like in many of their home matches, Mahindra simply showed neither the hunger nor the inclination to go for goal. Even after Abdul Latheef Seriki was sent off with a red card for a foul on a rival player and then kicking referee K Shankar in the 35th minute, Mahindra never stepped up the pace and always found the crowded Tollygunge defence hard to pierce.

Barring sporadic chances on either side, there was not much action in the first half. Tollygunge goalkeeper Hemanta Dora pulled off a brilliant save on a splendid M Najeeb volley. A few minutes before that Emeka Ezugo messed a wonderful chance with only goalkeeper Sunderraj Rajan to beat.

Tollygunge defended brilliantly, putting at least nine men behind to stave off whatever little challenge Mahindra managed to put up. The Calcutta outfit received some help from their rivals who never seemed to have enough men in attack, despite the constant cajoling by coach Rao.

Tollygunge made the most of their chance in the 49th minute when Emeka received a free kick from Bhabhani Mahanty well, shielded the ball and sent a long shot past the Mahindra keeper Rajan.

Rao then sent in some fresh legs with Raman Vijayan, Abbas Ali Rizvi and Naushad Moosa going in quick succession. Vijayan had a wonderful try from 20 yards that was parried away by Dora. Shamsy Raza did some fancy running on the flanks which finally paid dividends in the 75th minute.

Shamsy's cross sliced through the Tollygunge defence for Rizvi to attempt a left-footer. It rebounded off a defender, but Bernard was on hand to punt it in, much to the relief of the few Mahindra supporters.

But despite repeated attempts, Mahindra could never get through again and earn the match-winner.