Hero Cycles 29th Federation Cup
15 Sep 2007:Kingfisher East Bengal lifts Hero Cycles 29th Federation Cup .
Kingfisher East Bengal lifted the Hero Cycles 29th Federation Cup defeating Mahindra United 2-1 in the Finals played at Guru Nanak Stadium ,Ludhiana today. All the goals were scored in the first half as Kingfisher East Bengal led 2-1 at the half time mark with Edmilson scoring both the goals. Kingfisher East Bengal took the lead in the 36th min through a Penalty .Sunil Kumar of Mahindra United was sent off in the 42nd min of the first half by Referee K Shanker after two yellow cards. Mahindra United made a number of moves especially in the ten minutes of injury time of the second half but could not convert the chances that came their way. Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi ,President All India Football Federation gave away the winners trophy to M Suresh of East Bengal and Mr OP Munjal ,Chairman Hero Cycles gave away the Runners Up Trophy & Cheque to Sandip Nandy of Mahindra United.Dempo SC were declared the Fair play winner team.

Scorers : Kingfisher East Bengal :Mark Edmilson 36th min (Penalty) & 45th +  min.Mahindra United :Manjit Singh /45+ min (Penalty)

12-Sept.-2007:

Mahindra United cruises into the finals of the Hero Cycles 29^th  Federation Cup Football Tournament being played at Ludhiana, Punjab defeating Dempo Sports Club, Goa in the semifinals played on 12^th September 2007 via tie breaker. 3-1

Both the teams failed to score any goals in the extra time, after leveling 1-1 in the normal time.

Manjit Singh, jersey No. 12 scored for Mahindra United in the 32^nd minute, whilst Roberto Mendes Silva, jersey No. 11 leveled the score for Dempo Sports Club in the 38^th Minute of the first half.

In the tie breaker, N. P. Pradeep, Harpreet Singh and Surajit Bose scored for Mahindra United.  Chidi Edeh was the lone scorer for Dempo Sports Club, Climax Lawrence blasted over the cross bar, whilst the tries from Roberto Mendes and Ranti Martins were saved by the Mahindra Goalkeep Subhasish Roy Choudhury. Final Score (1-1 normal regulation time – 3-1 in tie breaker) 4-2 

Mahindra United will meet Kingfisher East Bengal Clun in the finals to be played on 15^th September 2007 at 18.30 hours, at Guru Nanak Stadium Ludhiana, Punjab.

11 Sep 2007:Kingfisher East Bengal defeated Mohun Bagan 3-2 in the first Semi Finals of Hero Cycles 29th Federation Cup played under flood lights at Guru Nanak Stadium ,Ludhiana today.They will play the winners of Wednesday’s second semi final between Mahindra United and Dempo SC ,Goa.The Finals will be played on 15th Sep 07.
Scorers :Kingfisher East Bengal :Surukumar Singh/25th min ,Ashim Bishwas 35th min,Dipendu Bishwas/46th min :Mohun Bagan :Bhaichung Bhutia /11th min ,Jose Barretto/71st min.
Referee : K Shanker (Tamilnadu)

10 Sep 07:Dempo SC scored a comprehensive 2-0 win over Churchill Brothers in the fourth quarter final match of the Hero Cycles 29th Federation Cup Football Tournament played at Guru Nanak Stadium ,Ludhiana today.Both the goals were scored in the first half of the match by Ranti Martin/14th min & Chidi Edeh in 37th min.Churchill Goalkeeper Vinay Singh was sent off the field for handling the ball outside the box and Churchill had to play with ten men.Chidi also missed a penalty kick Dempo SC will now meet Mahindra United in the second semi final to be played on Wednesday.

09 Sep 07:

The second quarter final match of the day played under Flood Lights saw Kingfisher East Bengal defeating JCT Football Club 3-2 ,having led 2-0 at the half time through goals by I Surukumar Singh in 14th min & by Edmilson Marques in 44th min. They will now meet Mohun Bagan in the semi finals.

Scorers :Kingfisher East Bengal :Surkumar Singh 14th min ,Edmilson Marques 44th min,72nd min.
JCT :Eduardo 51st Min & Rennedy Singh 90 + 

Earlier Defending Champions Mohun Bagan sailed into the semi finals of Hero Cycles 29^th Federation Cup Football Tournament with a fluent 3-1 win over Viva Kerala at Guru Nanak Stadium ,Ludhiana on Sunday .

Goals from Rose Barretto ,Ishfaq and Lalwmpuia were enough for Mohun Bagan to enter the last four stage where they could set up a mouth watering clash arch rivals JCT or Kingfisher East Bengal who play later in the day.

Sajesh P scored the only goal for Viva Kerala ,but had they shown  a little more maturity in front of the goal ,Viva Kerala could have stretched the defending champions to the limits.

“We lacked maturity .No doubt Mohun Bagan were a better side, but we could have done a lot better”, Viva Kerala Coach AM Sreedharan told reporters after the match.

His counterpart Carlos Pereira de Silva of Magan agreed his team was not up to the mark,but said with forced wholesome changes in the side he could not lay the blame at the feet of his players.

Without the talismanic Bhaichung Bhutia –who was down with Viral fever –Barretto shouldered additional responsibilities. And ,deservetedly the Brazilian sharpshooter put Mohun Bagan ahead after being at the right place to tap home a Peter Odafe header from a close range.

Ishfaq Ahmed made things comfortable for Mohun Bagan towards the closing stages of the first session .Venkatesh put Ishfaq clear just inside the box and all that Ishfaq was to lob the ball inside the empty goal after Viva Kerala stoppers were left arguing amongt themselves and the Captain goalkeeper T G Puroshathamnan stranded in no man’s land.

After the change of ends ,P Sajesh brought Viva Kerala back into the match with an opportunistic strike.

But ,that seemed to backfire as Bagan only grew stronger.

 True to form Lalwmpuia settled matters capitalizing on another defensive lapse.

The Southern Outfit split open the Bagan defence son a couple of occasions  providing Bagan Coach Carlos with some anxious moments. The Brazilian ,after all tried seven players in Defence with Peter Odafe only consistent of the lot.

For the moment , Bagan can celebrate ,but there is lot of hard work ahead.

08 Sep 2007:Mahindra United entered the Semi Finals of Hero Cycles 29th Federation Cup Tournament defeating Sporting Clube de Goa 5-4 (1-1) in the tie Breaker in the first Quarter Final match played at Guru Nanak Stadium ,Ludhiana today. Both sides were tied 1-1 at the end of the regulation time .K Ajayan scored for Mahindra United in the 28th minute.Sporting clube de Goa equalized through Bibiano Fernandes who scored through a Penality awarded by Referee Minangashu Bhattacharya in the 77th minute.Scorers : Mahindra United :K Ajayan /28th min. Sporting clube de Goa :Bibiano Fernandes /77th min

07 Sep 07:

Edeh Chidi struck the first hat trick of the Hero Cycles Federation Cup to help Dempo SC register a fluent 3-0 win over Chiragh United Sports Club.
At Guru Nanak Stadium ,Ludhiana, Dempo were not their usual free flowing self but the National Football League Champions and overwhelming favorites packed too much punch for their Kolkata rivals.
Edeh Chidi started the goal rush in the 39th minute ,but it was a result of some lazy work by Chiragh goalkeeper Somnath Khara.
Dempo’s Brazilian midfielder Roberto Mendes da Silva sent a long ball that should have been easy collection for Chiragh United goalkeeper ,but Khara – who had an extremely good last season misjudged allowing Chidi for one of the simplest goals of the tournament.
For almost an hour, Chiragh United looked very organized and gave an account of themselves .But the immaturity clearly showed despite striker Theodore Sunday trying to sieze control the upfront.
Dempo’s much talked about midfield came a cropper with only Jerry Zirasanga measuring up to the challenge. The rest simply floundered in mediocrity.
Chidi’s second goal-in the 81st minute –deserves special mention for sheer individual brilliance and power.
The powerfully built Nigerian striker took three defenders in his stride and struck a blinder that brooked no answer from Chiragh goalkeeper Khara.
Chidi ,quite deservedly ,got his hat trick five minutes from the close but quite characteristic of Chiragh’s game today it evolved from a defensive lapse as Dulal Biswas and Kinshuk Debnath did nothing to stop Chidi in his tracks from almost half way out. Once Chidi had the goalkeeper in his sights ,there was no way he was going to miss it.
Chiragh United went 0-3 but coach Bishwajit Bhattacharjee can still take home a lot of positives.

07 Sep 07:In the second match of the day played under Flood Lights,Churchill Brothers , Goa beat Salgaocar SC 4-1. Both the teams were tied 1-1 at the half time. Scorers : Churchill Brothers , Goa: Steven Ngom Mbanyem 36th & 85th min,Odafa Okolie 48th min,Robert Lalrwathuana 56th min. Salgaocar SC :Baba Tunde 14th min.

Referee :Pradeep Kumar (Tamilnadu)

 

 06 Sep 07: Viva Kerala took the Hero Cycles Federation Cup away from the predictability mode with a clinical 2-1 upset win over Air India at the Guru Nanak Stadium,Ludhiana.

The previous four pre quarter final battles have progresses on expected lines. And when Viva Kerala goalkeeper G Purushothaman gifted Air India with a 15th minute goal ,another predictable result seemed in the offing.

Purushothaman’s horror show went on air in the 15th minute when he allowed an innocuous try from Sanjay Pradhan to embarrassingly sail in –between his legs.

For most part of the first session Air India was the dominant side and seemed totally in control. However ,despite all of their domination, they trooped out with their heads down after conceding what looked like a needless goal in the 42nd minute of play.

Air India goalkeeper Raju Ekka fumbled with a scorching right footer from hardworking Bimal Barua,even though the effort came from quite a distance. The resultant ball bounced out of Raju Ekka’s grasp allowing Satish Kumar for a simple tap inside the nylons.

In between Paresh Shivalkar impressed with his daring runs on the left and repeatedly troubled rival defenders. However ,despite all of Shivalkar’s histrionics on the left wing, Air India seemed a team under pressure at the breather.

After the change of ends ,Viva Kerala got their acts right. The defence line of Irunhabam Singh ,Shabbas Salleel and Othallo Tabia tightened the loose ends while the likes of Sunil Kumar and James Singh caught the eye in the midfield.

Air India seemed flashy yet ineffective ,but the threat of Narender Meetei and Samson Singh could not go unnoticed.

That Air India did not translate their domination into goals is an entirely different story. The entire Viva Kerala technical bench jumped in joy when James Singh’s powerful free – kick found the top corner of the Air India nets.

The free kick just outside the box was a result of a needless tackle by Uttam Singh.

In the second match of the day Holders Mohun Bagan survived a scare before romping home 2-1 against ONGC .The match began on a fast pace with both sides making repeated forays into each bother’s territories. Lalkamal Bhowmick managed to pierce through in the 29th minute of the first half .He burst down the left ,cut inside and cracked the ball into the goalpost where custodian Rajat Dastidar was unable to stop it properly and Gulium Rongmoi rolled the ball into own goal .ONGC equalized in the 81st minute through Amit Mondal.

Jose Barretto scored the winner through a neat header in the 3rd minute of the second half of the extra time.