Pune: Prayag United SC rode on two first-half strikes down Air India 2-0 and qualify for the semi-finals as runners-up of Group-A in the 7th Abhijit Kadam Memorial Football Cup, at the at the Bharati Vidyapeeth Educational Complex Ground, here on Thursday.
The result means Prayag United will meet Sesa FA, Goa in the second semifinal slated for Friday, while Amanora Deccan XI will play PIFA, Colaba FC in first semifinal on the same day.
Prayag United went ahead in the 33rd minute through Sukumar Roy before doubling their lead in the 41st minute through Anjan Dey’s superb volley.
The match came to life in the 10th minute when Prayag’s Gogannath Oraw shot went just over. The Kolkata side kept up the pressure and had another chance when Liandala Sena’s shot was blocked by Air-India ‘keeper Rahul Yadav.
Just after the half hour mark, Prayag went ahead through skipper Sukumar Roy. Ranjin Mistry fed him a great ball on the right, Sukumar showed great skill to get better off two defenders before slotting the ball home at the far post.
Eight minutes later, Prayag went two up when Sukumar sent Gogannath in the clear on the right. The ensuing cross had Anjan Dey brilliantly volley home and thus double his team’s lead.
The first half ended with no further chang in the scoreline and Air-India being restricted to their own half and moving ahead in attack with an occasional counter attack.
Switching ends, Air-India looked to cut their deficit by pushing forward. They almost pulled one back when Siddharth Nayak’s shot was kept out by Prayag ‘keeper Raju Chakraborty.
As the second half progressed the game got more physical, with both sides getting into some hard tackles. Air-India tried hard to get back into the match, but missed many chances.
Prayag’s Sukumar had another chance in the 85th minute when he dribbled past two defenders, only to shoot into the rival ’keeper.
The game ended 2-0 in favor of Prayag United, thus completing the semifinal line-up.
FRIDAY’S FIXTURES:
Semifinal 1: Amanora Deccan XI vs PIFA Colaba FC – 5pm
Semifinal 2: Prayag United SC vs Sesa FA, Goa
