57th CC Meet TRAU down ARC (Shillong) to enter semi-final
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, January 03 2014 :
Tiddim Road Athletics' Union (TRAU), Kwakeithel became the first team to enter the semi-final stage of the ongoing 57th CC Meet Football Tournament, by edging past Assam Regimental Centre (ARC, Shillong) in the first quarter final match played today at Mapal Kangjeibung.
Both team opted for the 4-4-2 format, with two strikers upfront and four midfielders, with two falling back and moving forward according to the pace of the game and position of the ball.
Evenly matched but TRAU had better ball possession, relying on effective positional play, while ARC, Shillong opted more on one to one man marking and individual skill.
The lone and deciding game came against the run of play in the 64th minute of the match.
The goal came off a splendid move from Surchand, who took full advantage of a fumbling ARC Shillong forward, S Kishan on the side of TRAU, by dispossessing the ball from the ARC player and without losing momentum released a well measured short pass to Premkumar.
From there Premkumar went off on a solo run, wrong footing three defenders of ARC Shillong and took the ball right down the left flank, from where he unleashed a powerful volley that caught the ARC custodian hopelessly out of position.
The lemon break was taken with neither team able to have a good look at the goal.
Though TRAU had better ball possession and relied on superior positional play, the ARC men were up to it when it came to man to man marking.
With the clock ticking by, ARC, Shillong went on the offensive and managed to break the tight defence line of TRAU on a couple of occasions, but none of the move proved dangerous and ARC never really had a good look at the goal, exposing the absence of an effective striker.
The defence of TRAU did a commendable job in neutralising the series of attacks launched by ARC, Shillong with its young goalkeeper Ch Kumar rising to the occasion to easily keep the ball out of the net.
The one goal cushion however did not lull the TRAU players into complacency as they also launched a series of counter attacks, but the ARC defence and midfield players were up to the mark to keep attackers at bay and deny them another goal.
It was a test of individual skill versus a well oiled team, with TRAU emerging the winner with better positional play and better ball possession.
Though ARC Shillong were shown the door, they went out of the tournament with a good display of football, with some brilliant individual moves on either side of the two half.
The match did see some unpleasant moments, with the referee constrained to pull out the yellow cards twice-all against TRAU players.
N Momocha was booked in the 44th minute of the match for charging with the stud while Daniel L Hmar also received a similar penalty in the 63rd minute for elbowing a player of ARC, Shillong.
Tomorrow, TRUGPU, Nambol will take on the highly fancied, SSB, West Bengal, in the second quarter final of the tournament.
The other teams which have made it to the quarter finals are defending champions, NEROCA, NISA, SSU and Reitlang FC, Mizoram.
The stadium was filled to capacity with TRAU supporters coming out in full strength to cheer on their team.
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