India hold Nepal to a one-all draw

Bernard Perera

SOCCER: India and Nepal figured in a one-all draw yesterday in a South Asian Games Soccer Championship match at Sugathadasa Stadium under lights.

With this draw both sides had two points each in two games.

The first half was equally balanced but the Indians were not accurate with their shots at goal. They had three good shots at the nets but Ritesh Thapa the goal keeper managed to halt them proving he is at his best at present.

Nepalese too went on the attack at this stage trying to get into the lead. Here too the Nepalese were thwarted by the Indian goalie who made some brilliant saves. With both sides missing their opportunities lemons were taken with a blank score card. The Malaysian referee had to pull out the yellow card to warn players of both sides on a few occasions.

The turn around saw the Indians make use of their talents to get the ball into the net. They succeeded in doing so only after 25 minutes. It was their striker Soshil Kumar Singh who put them ahead 1-0. They could hold this lead only for further ten minutes. The Indian defender Naofa Singh who received a warning was penalised for a foul inside the box and Nepalese were awarded a penalty.

Senthosh Shahukhala who took the kick fired the equaliser. Naofa Singh had to go out on referee's orders. This saw both sides go for the man than the ball and referee once again got the chance to pull out the red card to Anil Gurang of Nepal. The last few minutes could not produce any goal to decide the game. In the earlier game Bangladesh was held to a goalless draw by Afghanistan.