Fatima muscle KP aside to enter quarters

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

PUNE: Centre forward Sanu Jacob was the penalty shoot-out hero for Fatima XI as they scraped past KP XI 7-5 in the Vahatuk football tournament here on Monday. After a drab show against NDA Youth Club in the tournament opener, Fatima and KP XI were tied at 2-2 in normal time after Viren D’Souza scored in the dying minutes to take the game into a tie-breaker.Then came the real drama as Vijayan Arland, a standby goalkeeper, pulled off a goal, denying KP striker Thomas and offering Sanu Jacob the opportunity to step up and score the winning goal. Fatima forwards - Richard Zuzart and Vijayan Arland launched a barrage of attack on KP citadel. But it was their flank partner Viren D’Souza who had the most telling impact. It was Fatima goalkeeper’s poor display that saw two goals being pumped in by KP in the first two minutes of the match. Thomas gave KP XI the lead in the very first minute of play when he caught Fatima goalkeeper Rozario Tupsuandrya napping with an opportunistic goal. Pavan Gurung struck three minute later to leave the Fatima defence shell-shocked.Just when Fatima’s chips were down, the combo of Richard Zuzart and Viren D’Souza showed impressive speed and strength to create pressure on KP defence. Fatima had a wonderful chance to reduce the margin by one goal when Nelson Gyanprakash fired a fierce shot dwon the left flank, but failed to find the net in the 13th minute of the match. Vijayan Arland muffed up another scoring opportunity as KP keeper Ashish Magar pulled off a fine save in 25th minute. Fifteen minutes into the second half, Fatima’s Steven Zuzart collected a through ball and sprinted near the touchline before chipping a cross that invited Sanu Jacob’s clinical finish; amazingly this goal boosted his morale, until then he appeared totally off-color. Sanu Jacob came into the act again sending a delightful through to left-winger Viren D’Souza, who dodged KP keeper Ashish Magar, flicked the ball to his right and sent in the equaliser.RESULTS: Fatima XI 7 (Sanu Jacob 2, Viren D’Souza 2, Vijayan Arland, Richard Zuzart, Godfery Micheal) bt KP XI 5