By Minerva Academy FC Media
CHANDIGARH: Minerva Academy FC registered its 2nd straight win of the 2nd Division League after a 2-1 win over Lonestar Kashmir FC at the Guru Nanak stadium on Sunday. The win took Minerva to the top of the table with 6 points from 2 Matches.
Midfield maestro Jagpreet Singh put the Minervans ahead on 38 minutes before Kashmir strike back with Iffam Tariq in the 43rd minute. But it was the home team which went out laughing after Bala Al Hassan struck the 2nd goal on 84 Minutes.
Coach Surinder Singh made just one change to the starting line up that beat Kenkre FC, bringing in Amandeep Singh in place of Nitesh Chhikara in the heart of the defence.
The match started off with Minervans right into the business as they attacked from the word go. The first real chance came in the 5th minute when Bala Hassan was brought down just at the edge of the box. The resultant free kick, which Manvir took, failed to breach the Kashmir wall.
Minervan’s kept the pressure on and came up with flurry of attacks but were not able to break the deadlock. In one counter attack, Kashmir FC nearly scored, had it not been for the brilliant diving block by Amandeep inside the box.
In the 15th minute, a long thrown in by Harpreet Bedi found Aji Demenenge at the edge of the box, who dodged two defenders, before sending in a scorcher, which again missed the goal by inches. By this time, Kashmir FC also soaked in the initial pressure and were making me good moves.
In one such attack, Goal Keeper Sayan Roy has to come off his line to make a brilliant one-on-one save. Kashmir FC put in a strong defence, even resorting to fouling players, which saw Minervans got many free kicks from the edge of the box.
Minerva got another free kick in the 39th minute after Demy was fouled. The resultant free kick this time sent the crowd into rupture after Jagpreet breached the wall and rattled the back of the net.
But the joy was short lived as Kashmir FC struck back almost instantly, when a long shot rebounded off the bar and fall into Iffam Tariq’s feet, who calmly slotted the ball pass Shayan Roy.
The match went into the break with the scoreline leveled at 1-1.
Minervans came out after the break with more vigour and unleashed flurry of attacks amidst the delaying tactics of Kashmir FC players. They kept on the pressure and was eventually rewarded when Bala tapped in Prabhjot’s pass from the left.
Meanwhile Prabhjot’s patience was tested time and again after he was fouled several time. But ultimately, he too resorted to a bad tackle and was sent off as Minerva saw off the match with 10-men.
Minerva next play Dempo SC at the Guru Nanak Stadium , Ludhiana on 6th of December, 2:30 PM.