Indian Bank records second win in the CFA Senior Division League

After having played three matches, RBI has won two and drawn the other.

The day’s second match witnessed a riveting battle unfold as the Tax team took a lead in the 19th minute through the impressive H Ameerudeen. Ameer made perfect use of a good pass from M Saravana Kumar to give his team a deserving lead. It looked like the Taxmen would go into the break with their lead intact but with four minutes remaining Indian Bank’s Pravitto scored the equaliser with the assist coming from Kameshwaran. Buoyed by that goal, Indian Bank pressed forward with all its might in the second-half and bossed the possession and could have added another had it not been for some poor finishing by Elavarasan who, with an empty goal at his mercy, headed the ball wide. Elavarasan was also guilty of missing an easy chance in the first half when he dragged his shot well wide of the post. Things improved for the Bank team with the introduction of midfielder O Lepcha who came in place of Kameshwaran. And the diminutive player from North East didn’t take much time to make an impact as his inch-perfect crosses from the right flank constantly tested the fragile defence of Income Tax. 

The pressure finally told on the taxmen as they conceded a goal in the 76th minute when an aerial cross from the left-back Immanuel found Pravitto who scored a diving header past the Income Tax goalkeeper. 

The strong backline of the Bank team consisting of the two centre-halves Bharath Arun and Hemachandran ensured that the Income Tax forwards were only confined to long-distance shots.

Indian Bank, however, had a scare deep into the added time but the threat was warded off by an alert goalkeeper Francis Vincent who made a full-length dive to palm the ball away. Indian Bank has now won two matches in succession after defeating Chennai United in its previous match. 

Indian Bank manager Syed Sabir Pasha was happy with his team’s effort and praised the youngsters for putting in a brave show. 

“We had great difficulty in assembling our team at a short notice. Despite that and there being inadequate time for the pre-season training, my boys have done well so far. We missed our Nigerian forward Abiodun who pulled his hamstring in the earlier match. It will take some time before he makes a complete recovery and we are looking at some alternate options,” said Sabir.