JCB Bhilai Brothers dispatch Kenkre FC to enter RCF Premier Cup Quarter Finals

by Kaushal Shukla December 20, 2014

JCB Bhilai Brothers from Chattisgarh overcame a flat Kenkre FC side 3-1 despite going a man down late on, to enter the Quarter Finals of the RCF Premier Cup 2014.

Despite arriving in Mumbai just hours before the kick-off, JCB Bhilai Brothers took to the field immediately after a short warm up session. The fatigue was evident in the opening minutes as Kenkre FC were out of the blocks much quicker.

Four minutes into the start of the play, Kenkre FC winger Arish Sutaria skipped past the Bhilai right back and his cut back was met by forward Taha Kachwala. But his shot was brilliantly blocked by the Bhilai Brothers’ defence.

Bhilai Brothers’ Celestine was booked for a late challenge in the 8th minute. Bhilai Brothers were slightly off the pace in the opening period. Just a minute later, Kenkre’s Kamran Siddhique capitalized on some sloppy play by the Bhilai Brothers’ backline and drove at the Bhilai defence and his cross required a good intervention by the Bhilai Brothers defence.

Despite the early hick ups, Bhiliai Brothers stunned Kenkre FC as they took the lead in the 10th minute via striker Wasim who was played in on goal before he controlled beautifully to beat the keeper and squeeze his shot in from a narrow angle. The goal was completely against the run of play and Kenkre FC were rattled.

Two minutes later Bhilai Brothers almost doubled their lead after a swift counter attack set Wasim through on goal again but this time his first touch let him down as the Kenkre FC keeper was able to collect.

Wasim suddenly was the center of all the Bhilai Brothers’ play as he very nearly got on the end of a through ball. The goal had lifted the Bhilai Brothers and they were finding spaces behind the Kenkre FC defence and they very nearly made that count.

The game had turned on its head as Kenkre’s Francisco Domnic had a horrible moment in the 20th minute, when his back pass was met by Bhilai Brothers’ goal scorer Wasim who shot inches wide. A huge let off for Kenkre FC.

Bhilai Brothers had found an obvious weakness and were exploiting it. Kenkre FC constantly held a high line, resulting in plenty of space to exploit behind them and Bhilai Brothers were getting a lot of joy there especially with Wasim’s movement up front.

Striker Wasim is involved yet again as he played in Satya Prakash but he put his shot in the final minute of the first half.

Referee blew for half time as Bhilai Brothers went into the interval a goal to the good after brushing off a slow start. For Kenkre though, it could have been worse as their high backline was constantly exposed. The Kenkre midfield needed to step it up and press the opposition in a better way to stem the flow of chances for Bhilai Brothers.

Kenkre FC got straight back into the game as they equalized seconds into the second half, after confusion in the Bhilai Brothers’ defence left Kamran Siddhique with a tap in and he obliged to pull Kenkre level and give them a huge boost so early in the second half.

But their joy was short lived as Bhilai Brothers hit straight back, regaining the lead as striker Wasim got the second of his night with a neat chip over the Kenkre keeper after being sent through on goal. Kenkre’s offside trap had failed and they paid the price for failing to execute the high back line yet again.

The goal flattened Kenkre as their keeper Sabeesh A.V made two great saves to deny Bhilai No.10 Celestine twice in the space of as many minutes. Kenkre defence was all over the place as Bhilai created chance after chance. Fortunately for Kenkre FC, they did not make it count.

Two minutes later, Kenkre miss a great chance to equalize as Derrick Joseph blasts over a cushioned header from substitute Shailesh Jadhav from a Nitesh Aswani free kick. A rare opportunity went begging for Kenkre FC.
But they were to get yet another chance and an even better one as Kenkre were awarded a controversial penalty as he adjudged Celestine to handle the ball in the 52nd minute of the match.

Rugved Yeole stepped up only to put his spot kick wide. A huge disappointment for Kenkre who missed a great chance to equalize with just eight minutes left and being second best for most of the game.

But they were awarded another window of hope when referee Rosario sent off Celestine for a second bookable offense as he thought his reaction after awarding Kenkre a penalty was too overboard. It was stupid from Celestine, who put his team in a spot of bother.

But the missed penalty played on Kenkre’s mind as ten men of Bhilai Brothers dominated proceedings. Their dominance was rewarded in the final minute of stoppage time as substitute Praveen Sharma made it 3-1 after a swift counter attack from Bhilai Brothers. It was the very least which they deserved.

The referee blew for full time as Bhilai Brothers became the first outstation team in the last eight of the RCF Premier Cup.

Earlier in the day, another of the outstation teams, P.T.M. Kolhapur were knocked out by Dena Bank who came from a goal down to win 3-1 with goals from Mario Fernandes, Pramod Yadav and Shoeb Vindani after Rushikesh Methe had given the Kolhapur outfit the lead.