Last-gasp goal helps ICF defeat Hindustan Eagles in the CFA Senior Division League

Eagles did well to bounce back after ICF took a 2-0 lead in the first half. Eagles’ striker Cletus Paul brought his team back into the contest scoring a brace in the second half but all that was undone when a defensive lapse allowed ICF to walk away with all three points. 

Eagles’ coach Abraham Varghese cut a sorry figure after seeing his team concede a goal at the last possible minute. “This was a match we shouldn’t have lost. I would have been happy with a point. Our defending needs to improve at set-pieces,” said Varghese. 

After earning a clinical 4-1 win over Chennai FC in its last match, Varghese failed to understand how his team could go down to an opponent that it would have beaten nine out of 10 times. “I thought my boys did extremely well to beat a strong team like Chennai FC in our previous match. Even before that in the opening game against Viva Chennai FC, we did well to earn a point. We missed the services of our Nigerian striker Okoro who pulled his hamstring in the game against Chennai FC. Had he recovered in time, we would have won this game. But despite this setback, we are confident of winning the league,” added Varghese.

His counterpart A Vincent said no praise is too high for the manner in which his team played against a stronger opponent. “Even after giving those two goals away, I was hopeful that my team would score a winner. Our aim this season is to finish in the top six of the table. We will be recruiting a new set of players who will be in the age group of 20-22 shortly and once they arrive, our team will look formidable,” said Vincent. 

Earlier, ICF started off with an aggressive frame of mind and reaped rewards in the span of three minutes in the first-half when U Jayakumar opened its account before the seasoned midfielder S Fredy scored a peach of a goal to put his team 2-0 up going into the break.

ICF couldn’t hold on to its lead as Paul reduced the deficit by converting a penalty and before long added another to make the scoreline read 2-2. Paul’s second goal was a visual treat as he controlled the ball with the aid of a brilliant first-touch and then ran rings around the ICF goalkeeper to slot the ball into the empty net.

But with just seconds remaining, ICF had the last laugh when midfielder S Karthick’s free-kick found an unmarked David who unleashed a forceful header to clinch the match for his team.