DSA effort bearing fruit

NEW DELHI, December 20: When the Delhi Soccer Association recently bunched together some 18 players and formed Delhi Blues, the idea was ...

NEW DELHI, December 20: When the Delhi Soccer Association recently bunched together some 18 players and formed Delhi Blues, the idea was to prepare them for the forthcoming senior National championship for the Santosh Trophy early next year. And, in order to give them exposure, DSA put the team in the recent tournaments, including the on-going all-India Lal Bahadur Shastri Football tournament.

Expectedly, the team has lived up to the expectation of the selectors and is now all set to take on the might of Indian Bank from Chennai in the final of the Shastri tournament tomorrow.

So far, the performance of the Delhi outfit has been something to savour, despite the odd hiccups. Though the scoreline of the team at the league stage of the tournament did not indicate any conviction, it did exceedingly well in the crucial semi-finals, beating State Bank of India (Hyderabad) by a handsome 3-1 margin yesterday.

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But tomorrow may be another day, particularly when it knows that the opponent is really a formidable one. Delhi Blues also realise the fact that with a fragile defence, where Simon Peter, Pushpinder Kundu and Sanat Kar are prone to leaving gaps, opportunist strikers like Sabir Pasha and Amal Raj can be breathing down their neck constantly to convert the chances.

Indian Bank’s bench strength has also looked impressive with Selvakumar and Kumaresan having proved good substitutes when in crunch.

More than that, they have a strong wall built around and efficiently manned by skipper V. P. Sathyan, Fatai and Purushottaman. The rival teams have often found the threesome difficult to beat despite reaching the penalty box. And not to forget medios Magenderan, Bobby Hamilton and Sri Lankan Bagoos, who are capable of upsetting the best of teams on their day.

In contrast, Delhi Blues largely rely and look up to their forwards to do the trick. Vimal Thapa, Dharmender Kharola and Nageshwar Rao, who should form part of the first eleven, have been doing their bit but only in patches. Unfortunately, they have not been able to hit it cohesively and that has added tremendous pressure on the defence, which looked cracking under counter-attack on occasions.

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Delhi Blues can, however, take heart from the fact that their defence had given some torrid moments for Indian Bank in the inaugural game of the tournament, which the latter one by a solitary goal. Another factor that could go against the visitors is the gripping cold sweeping through the city. The team from Chennai is not used to such climate and this may prove be its Achille’s heel.

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