Ashirwad Hegde’s forty yard strike proved insufficient for relegation battling Mumbai Customs as Central Raliway pulled off a late comeback to draw level at 1-1 in a MFL Elite Division fixture at the Cooperage.
In what proved to be yet another feisty affair between the two seasoned outfits with tackles flying all over the park, a series of questionable decisions by the referee only added fuel to the testosterone-induced fire.
Dire Straits
Coming into the fixture in tenth place with six points to their credit, Mumbai Customs were in desperate need of a win to keep their survival hope alive. With the team going through their worst personnel crisis in recent memory, the team line-up featured just one out of the stipulated six available substitutes.
Contrastingly at the other end of the table, fifth placed Central Railway needed a win to keep their play-off hopes alive and keep up with the rapidly moving divisional leaders.
Long Ranger
In a game devoid of any clear-cut attacking opportunities in the first half – partly due to the no-nonsense defending at both ends – the only real talking point arrived in the 34th minute when Mumbai Customs opened the scoring in spectacular style.
A wayward pass by Railways keeper Raghuvir Khanvilkar down the middle of the pitch was snapped up Customs’ Ashirwad Hegde, charging in from the right flank. Spotting the keeper off his line, the wingback unleashed an outrageous chip which saw the ball travel a good forty yards before crashing into the back of the net. Goal! 1-0 to Customs.
Close!
At the other end, Raliways almost equalized within minutes off the restart in a goal-mouth melee however a combination of poor finishing and brave defending came to Customs’ rescue.
At half-time, it was 1-0 in favour of the boys in the Grey-and-Gold.
Air-tight Defense
Keeping the dangerous Railways strike partnership of Karim Sheikh and Kasif Jamal was the impressive Customs defensive line of Hekmat Singh, Rehman Cardozo, Monish Mambrey and Ashirwad Hegde.
The foursome dominated in the air and made some crucial interceptions in key areas to thwart the Railways attacks.
The Equaliser
After going close on several occasions, Railways Sumesh K.S finally pulled his team level in the last ten minutes. Latching on to a deflected ball inside the penalty area, the midfielder smashed a powerful shot past the keeper and into the top corner at the near post. Goal! 1-1. Railways pull level.
It was at this stage that the spotlight turned on the man in the middle as play was called off for a confusing few minutes and the referee was engulfed in a sea of red and grey.
Surprisingly, no bookings were awarded as play resumed eventually.
All-Square
In the end, it finished all square at 1-1. The less-than-ideal result does very little to improve the two teams chances this season as it heads into its business end. With the contest at both ends of the table heating up, it will take a herculean effort for both teams to achieve their goals.
