[1]The Chennai Football Association senior division league is heading inexorably towards a thrilling finale. With just six matches left in the 12-team league, title contenders and relegation candidates have everything to play for on the home bend.
Defending champions AGORC and Chennai Customs are involved in a fascinating battle for title. Chennai FC, FCI, Central Excise and Tamil Nadu Police have the onerous task of avoiding relegation.
Customs and AGORC are at the top of the table with 26 points each from 10 matches. Both have a match left to round off their campaign. Customs will face Tamil Nadu Police on Tuesday and AGORC take on Chennai FC on Thursday. If the top two emerge victorious in their final league game, a title playoff will be unavoidable. Police will be desperate to get at least a point that will help them stave off demotion.
The task is marginally tougher for Customs because their main striker and the league’s top scorer M. Ramesh is suspended for the Police match. Even though there is no doubt that Customs have enough ammunition to ambush Police, they have to ensure that the absence of Ramesh doesn’t become a psychological demon.
The importance of Ramesh to Customs can’t be stressed enough. He missed his team’s first four matches this season as a result of injury. Without their talisman, Customs dropped four points as they were held by AGORC and SAI.
Once Ramesh came off the treatment table, Customs assumed the ruthlessness of a juggernaut, winning all their matches by comfortable margins. Had the experienced forward been available from the beginning of the season, Customs might have sealed the title by now.
Ramesh has scored 10 goals from only six matches and no striker in the league can boast of such productivity. There is no doubting the forward’s talent but there had been a question mark over his sharpness in front of goal. This season, however, Ramesh has been in a league of his own. There is a newfound maturity in his game. He looks so composed and authoritative in the final third that he pounces on chances like a hungry tiger.
Customs aren’t wrong to feel aggrieved by a yellow card dished out to Ramesh in their last match against Southern Railway. The card — the forward’s second in the campaign — was totally uncalled for. But Customs have no time to brood over the decision of the referee, as they have to deal with Police on Tuesday.
Customs coach S. Grand Duraipandian got emotional after the yellow card incident. But he vowed to fight back. “I believe that our hard work will bear fruit. My team will rise to the occasion against Police. Winning the title is an ambition that drives everybody in my team and we will certainly achieve our collective goal,” he said.
Grand’s team can take heart from their performance against AGORC in the tournament opener. The match ended in a 1-1 draw but the Ramesh-less Customs were clearly the dominant team. Customs forward U. Jayakumar, who was on target in the match, is the find of the season. He never stops running and is also blessed with a nose for scoring goals. Grand’s faith in Jayakumar isn’t misplaced. Jayakumar has the ability to carry the team on his shoulders.
Another person Grand will be turning to is midfielder P. Sudhakar. Fitness problems have hamstrung Sudhakar’s performance this year but there is little doubt that he is the best creative midfielder in the league. In the Railway match, his touches were brilliant. If Sudhakar settles into a rhythm, Customs can rest assured that the job would be done against Police.
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