Chetak gallop to glory, lift Vahatuk title

Photo: Mukund Bhute

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

PUNE: Shreyas Dasgupta’s late goal saw Chetak pull off an exciting victory over City Club in the final of the Vahatuk Football Tournament at Chandrashekhar Agashe Ground here on Saturday.

In a see-saw match, Chetak found their feet in the very first minute and broke through Kabir Mandrekar. The goal was a treat to watch as Kabir darted inside the box and freed his legs beating City Club goalkeeper Kiran Chaudhary after receiving a sparkling chip from Ruturaj Thakkar from the right corner.

In 5th minute, it was Ruturaj Thakkar, who targeted City Club’s net on a free-kick just outside the box. The ball, however, sailed over before brushing the crossbar.

Three minutes later, Ruturaj Thakkar created a penetrative move down the right flank and floated in the ball to Chetak captain Mangesh Shinde, who took an aerial right-footed shot that was nicely blocked by keeper Kiran Chaudhary.

City Club, with their loads of experience, were not far behind to launch an attack. Their forwards probed Chetak’s garrison with sharp moves. In 10th minute they set up an attack from the right flank to Raj More, who tapped the ball in the net, but was offsided.

Seven minutes later, agile Raj More once again gave torrid time to Chetak defenders when he leaped in the air to direct a stinging header to the right of Chetak goalkeeper, who pulled off a magnificent save.

Rohan Bhalekar had the best chance to put Chetak ahead 2-0 in 20th minute when he delayed shooting the ball past the goalkeeper.

Mathew Susainathan, however, did not miss one in 23rd minute. His craftsmanship resulted in him notching up the first goal and the equalizer for City Club.

Locked at 1-1 at lemon break, City Club struggled to string together any decent attacking move in the second half. They looked down-and-out with Chetak forwards going hammer and tongs against them.

After a flurry of attacks going waste, Shreyas Dasgupta of Chetak tricked something out of the ordinary thumping a winning goal in 45th minute of the game.

RESULT: Chetak 2 (Kabir Mandrekar, Shreyas Dasgupta) bt City Club 1 (Mathew Susainathan).