ST Joseph’s-cfa senior division league: Indian Bank sign off with Arrows victory

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Indian Bank ended their St. Joseph’s-CFA senior division campaign with a 2-1 win against Arrows FC at the Nehru Stadium here on Saturday.

The bank team finished fourth. Useni Joshua provided the winner after Nclibe Valentine had cancelled out S. Karthik’s opening goal for Indian Bank.

IB coach Sabir Pasha wasn’t really rejoicing at the victory. “We had the team to go all the way. I was confident of a better finish,” he said.

In a match deprived of any major consequences, both teams produced end to end action from the outset.

IB came close to taking the lead but their Nigerian striker Bienvenue Ukizena was denied by an upright in the opening minutes.

That didn’t hurt them much as Karthik latched on to a poor clearance inside the box and beat the Arrows goalkeeper T. Arun with an angled right-footed shot.

No sooner had IB celebrations died down than Valentine restored parity. After getting the ball free of his never-ending legs, Valentine drilled a thunderous half-volley which gave IB custodian Imran Khan no time to react. Both teams walked in for the break with a goal apiece.

The winner was scored in the 67th minute. Midfielder Soyatanghul, after receiving a perceptive pass from winger P. Karthik, re-laid an inch-perfect floater towards Uzeni on the left. The Nigerian grew taller to beat his marker and headed the ball into the far corner.

Earlier in the day, Hindustan Eagles emerged champions in the first division. The private team, owned by the Hindustan University, thumped DBYC (Kilpauk) 5-0 to mark their qualification for the senior division in some style. The Eagles tallied 27 points from 11 matches.

SC Steds, on 23 points, will be the other team to join Hindustan in the elite league if they beat Challengers Union in their final game.

A draw will mean a playoff between Steds and Chennai City Police to decide promotion. In the event of a Steds loss, City Police will gain promotion with 24 points.

The final match of the senior division league will be played on Sunday. There will be a brief valedictory function after the ICF-SAI tie.

Results
Senior division: Indian Bank 2 (S. Karthik 37, Useni 67) bt Arrows FC 1 (Valentine 67). MoM: S. Karthik.
First division: Hindustan Eagles 5 (R. Ranjith 2, Christian 2, S.P. Xavier) bt DBYC (Kilpauk) 0.
Action today
ICF vs SAI (5pm).