SRINAGAR: In the ongoing JKFA Professional League 2021 two matches were played on Wednesday at the Synthetic Turf TRC in Srinagar.
J&K Bank XI faced off with Shaheen FC, Jammu in the first match of the day. Billed to be a close contest, the match lived up to the expectations. J&K Bank started the game with a display of offensive football but Shaheen FC countered all attacks and did not allow Bank’s forward line anywhere near the goal. The evenly balanced match was turned upside down when J&K Bank succeeded in scoring a goal through Akif in the 20th minute.
As more space opened up for the Bank XI forwards to exploit, the trailing team gave away a penalty kick in the 35th minute. Deemed a deliberate handball by the referee, Bank XI star player Akif made no mistake from the spot and doubled his team’s lead. The first half ended 2:0 in Bank’s favour and with Shaheen FC down to 9 men after two red cards were shown to Arun Nagiyal & Ashish.
Shaheen FC boys tried their best to half the deficit in the second half and started to dominate possession and create chances. They succeeded in the 60th minute to pull one goal back. But the two red cards severely dented any hopes of a comeback by the Shaheen FC players. Bank XI scored their third in the dying moments of the match through Gautam. The match ended 3:1 in favour of J&K Bank XI. Aakif was named man of the match.
The second match of the day was played between I-League aspirants, Kashmir Avengers FC and Hyderya Sports FC.
A crucial match for both teams, the game was expected to be a high voltage match. Both the clubs tried hard to take the lead in the beginning but it was Kashmir Avengers who succeeded in finding the net through Kelvin. Hydera Sports FC made certain beautiful moves and their efforts were applauded by the spectators. The first half ended 1:0 in favour of the Avengers.
Hyderya Sports came out flying from the start of the second, missing a guilt-edge chance to level the match. Hyderya players however persisted and managed to equalise the score through Kamran in the 60th minute.
Both teams tried to take the lead and missed many chances in the process. But in the 80th minute, Kelvin scored again to effectively hand Kashmir Avengers the tie. Kelvin then also managed to get himself sent off, with the referee deeming his rude behaviour as the reason. Avengers’ coach was also shown a red card by the referee. The match ended 2:1 in favour of Kashmir Avengers FC. Burhan of the Avengers was awarded man of the match.
Two matches of the Professional League will be played on Thursday, July 29. The first match will be played between Real Kashmir FC and Downtown Heroes FC at 3:00 pm while in the second match, Lonestar Kashmir FC will take on J&K Bank XI at 5:00 pm.
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