Vijay Kunder (UBI) not having things all his own way in the wake of efforts by RCF's Bitan Singh. July 2: Vijay Kunder's second-minute strike brought Union Bank of India (UBI) a 1-0 victory over Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) and their fifth point from three matches in the WIFA Super Division football league being played at the Cooperage.Kunder struck in a frenetic goalmouth after receiving from Mario Susai, linseman D More upholding the goal after a close goalline decision.RCF remain on four points after playing their fourth match, but were lucky not to finish 0-2 losers when UBI struck the crossbar twice in close succession in the dying seconds.Kunder's goal preceded a fine display that saw the bankman tackle hard and assist his strikers in their numerous forays.Goalkeepers had their say today with both Suhas Patil (RCF) and Nadeem Ansari pulling off two spectacular saves each.Exchanges were even in the first half, but RCF intensified their efforts for the equaliser after the break lead by Arshad Ansari, assuming a high work rate in the presence of a subdued Ryan D'Souza.Last season's top scorer, Ryan, targeted for policing, has been struggling to find form - his only telling essay at goal today was a volley in the first-half which Patil collected without much ado.Ansari thwarted Zahid Raza a minute after UBI scored but RCF's quest for the equaliser took a back seat as Arshad emerged the bank's number one threat as spearhead.Balin Singh's tenacity kept RCF from falling further behind, the stopper's acrobatic clearance denying Arshad's header from Julian D'Silva's free-kick midway through the half.Then it was Nadeem's chance to prove his worth to UBI - his timely touch staving off a booming attempt by Baleshwar Sharma.Balin once again came to RCF's rescue, clearing after Patil floundered with Arshad's tame effort from a pass by Ryan in the dying moments of the first half.Zahed Ansari's 40-yard run at the start of the second half represented RCF's intensified efforts to draw level but Nadeem Ansari kept his nerve, sliding to dispossess the striker, who then failed to slot home the loose ball.After Arshad saw Patil under the RCF bar tip over a powerful right-footer on the run, UBI were pinned back into defence for considerable periods.And ruefully for RCF came a string of missed chances - Zahid and Ratan agonising over incredible misses and an 82nd minute indirect free-kick coming to naught.But the striker to regret most must be Bitan Singh whose long-ranger was thwarted by Nadeem in the nick of time and the same striker failing to beat the UBI custodian after the resultant corner, a mere minute from time.But UBI, piecing a dangerous move after an eternity hit the crossbar within seconds - the unlucky strikers being Arshad and Susai.UNITED BOYS WIN: Goals by Lynn Boothello, Nitesh Ubhare and Albert Braganza scripted a 3-0 win for United Boys (Sahar) over Rebels SC in the WIFA First Division match, played earlier at the same venue.BPCL HELD: Rhino SC and BPCL drew goalless in an MDFA Harwood League match at the St Xavier's Ground, Parel.Thipsay in lead: International Woman Master Bhagyashree Thipsay and 11-year-old school boy Vaibhav Saxena from Vashi won both their matches to collect two points each, leading the field with six others in the Rapid Chess Tourney here today.Other joint leaders with two points each are N Neelakantan, Vinod Kumar Solanki, Rashmin Pulekar, Sharath Gokul, Prasad Deshmukh and Vinayak Ghate.The tourney, with a time duration of 25 minutes per player, has attracted 104 players and is being played on eight round Swiss League basis.Ten-year-old school boy, Nikhil Kamat from Dadar, is in the second place with 1.5 points to his credit.
