GV Raja All India Football: Malabar United comes back from behind to beat Army XI

A last-minute goal and another goal in the injury time helped Malabar United score a 3-1 win over Army XI in a pool 'C' quarterfinal league match of the GV Raja all-India football tournament at the University stadium, Thiruvananthapuram.

It was a fine comeback by Malabar United which trailed by a Gorden Zoramchanna 47th minute goal.

Nigerian Enyinnaya Loveday equalised for the Kochi side in the 74th minute and both Vijesh Kumar and Jacken Sebastian struck in quick succession in the dying minutes of the match to snatch a memorable win for their side.

The Army XI had itself to blame after missing a penalty in the first half and lowering its guard towards the end of the match.

In the 25th minute Gorden Zoramchanna blasted out the spot kick which was awarded when Malabar’s Sharath Babu handled the ball. Apart from that, the first half was a cagey affair.

Army XI went ahead soon after the break. Ibrahim Rahamatualla made his way into the Malabar box from left and his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Pramod but the rebound came to an unmarked Zoramchanna who made amends for his earlier miss.

Malabar United shrugged off its indifferent form and attacked in earnest. Prasoon on the left flank was a constant menace to the Army XI.

He managed to arrow in a free crosses but inability of strikers Jacken Sebastian and Firos to shrug off their markers saw chances go waste. With Vijesh Kumar moving up from the right flank, the Army goal was under constant threat.

In the 68th minute Firos failed to get his feet in way of a Prasoon’s cut back and in the 70th minute Vijesh’s shot had the Army goalkeeper Chhetri in a tangle. The ball bounced out of his hand and was going towards the net before the goalkeeper recovered and quickly grabbed it before the ball crossed the line.

But Kochi side couldn’t be denied the goal it deserved. Chhetri could only palm away a free-kick taken by Loveday.

The ball came to Vijesh whose chip from an acute angle eluded Chhetri’s jump and came to Loveday who made no mistake.

The equaliser pepped up the Kochi side which launched an all-out attack. Vinesh tested goalkeeper Chettri with a stiff shot in the 86th minute and at stroke of time, the striker beat the Army off-side trap to lob the ball over the goalkeeper.

Another defensive lapse saw Jacken Sebastian complete the tally in the injury time.

Original Article on The Hindu

From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Sunday 7 February 2010, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.