Punjab Police beats Ever Ready

Jamshedpur, Mar 10 (UNI) Punjab Police defeated Ever Ready by a solitary goal while Shimla Young of Delhi held State Bank of Travancore (Kerala) 2-2 in the second division ONGC cup 10th National Football League at JRD Tata sports complex here today.

The Delhi team which managed to earn their first point in the tournament sprang a surprise in the very first minute when O A Austin scored an opportunist goal deceiving custodian Harshal Rahman (1-0) and maintained lead till 29th minute when Mohammad Rafi restored parity with a powerful ranger(1-1).

Shimla Young again went ahead through substitue D J Kabui in the 80th minute (2-1) but it failed to maintain the lead as SBT striker Ashif Saheer scored the equaliser three minutes later with a fine header.

After winning the two matches in a row SBT would face a bit tough to qualify for the final round after today's draw against the lowly Shimla Young. The Kerala team got seven points from four matches and slated to play against the strong TFA in the last encounter.

In the other match Punjab Police upset Ever Ready in a late second half goal through striker Pradeep Singh, who replaced Parminder Singh five minutes after the lemon break.

The Kolkata team, who began the tournament with 3-2 win against the strong Churchill Brothers, however, failed to rise later and earned four points from four matches. The IFA shield runners up would meet Shimla Young while Punjab Police, who had six points so far, would lock horn against Churchill in the final encounter.

TFA and Churchill are leading the league table with eight and seven points respectively after playing four matches and are all set to qualify for the final round.

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