Opening Day Hit! As Western Railway Triumph In The ‘Railway Derby’

by Nixon Rodrigues October 18, 2014

What  a way to kick start the MDFA Elite Division League with 5 goals scored in an end to end game played at the Cooperage on Friday, 17th October 2014 between Central Railway & Western Railway. With the new season on hand and big targets to achieve both teams set out to the field with only a win in mind.

It was Western Railway who got the better of the early exchanges as PT Somi’s through ball in the 13th minute of play was well intercepted by striker Charanjeet Singh, who broke clear of the offside trap set by Central Railway’s defense to net the first goal of the game.

With a one goal cushion, Western hogged most of the ball possession and their midfield was at it again, when a good passing move was directed towards Charanjeet Singh on the left flank, on spotting Tarun Nirwan making the run inside the box, Charanjeet provided a pin point delivery which Tarun comfortably tapped in for the 2nd goal.

Central Railway never gave up hopes & look determined to claw their way back into the game. In the 2nd half, they did just that, keeping the pressure on the Western defense, a corner kick from Krishna Naidu in the 52nd minute was misjudged and fell to the feet of Central Railway’s Chetan Waghela, who did well to shimmy past a defender and slot the ball home.

Just 2 minutes later though, Central Railway’s hard work was all undone with an unfortunate handball in the box, a cross from Clayton D’souza caught Krishna Naidu square on the hand and  referee Tapash Ghosh made no hesitation in pointing towards the spot. Western Railway’s most experienced player PT Somi stepped up to take the penalty and he made no mistake, as he converted the spot kick with ease.

Having the lead Western Railway looked vulnerable, with a lot of  mistakes in defense, fortunately for them Central’s striker Karim Shaikh was having an off day with many missed chances, the best of them being, when a clearance from Western Railway’s goalkeeper Nisarulla Khan, came off Karim’s back and fell right into his path, he did well to dribble past him but was unable to place the ball in an empty net.

Fighting a lost cause, Central did not give up hopes. They got another goal in extra time through Zubair Desai who headed the ball in from a wonderful cross by Krishna Naidu but it was a little too late as the game ended 3-2 in favor of Western Railway.