KANNUR, July 25: Former Inter-Railway champion Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Tamil Nadu, staved off a barrage of onslaughts during the last ten minutes and the threat of rain to defeat Coaching Centre (CC), Pondicherry 2-0 in the south Zone qualifying round matches in the Kalyani Black Label Cup here this evening.Defender Puvaneswaran drew first blood for ICF by converting a penalty-kick in the 14th minute and medio Marcel Sladen fired in the second goal in the 49th minute to seal the Pondicherry team's fate.
Earlier, ICF were unlucky not to have scored in the 12th minute, with striker Velayudham hitting straight to Senthilkumar.
However, ICF got the reward two minutes later through a penalty. A combined move by Puvaneswaran and Sureshkumar ended in a flag-kick in their favour. Puvaneswaran floated his kick into the centre and Sureshkumar took a hard header and a goalmouth melee ensued where a Pondicherry defender handled the ball. Referee had no hesitation in pointing to the dreadedspot.
Puvaneswaran who took the penalty placed the ball to Senthilkumar's left much to the delight of his teammates. ICF could have further consolidated their position but Muniyandi fumbled, with Senthilkumar at his mercy as he drove over the horizontal.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
