Derby delight for UBI and HDFC

by Siddharth Yadav December 13, 2017

12th December 2017, Mumbai: Wednesday saw two ‘Bankers Derby’ encounters in town as Union Bank of India (UBI) faced Central Bank of India (CBI) while HDFC met Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Elite and Super Division, respectively at Mumbai Football Arena, Andheri.

Super Division – HDFC 3-1 Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

In the first of the two derbies, HDFC produced a brilliant performance to defeat Reserve Bank of India (RBI) 3-1 to get on back on track in Super Division.

RBI who are not having the best of the seasons once again suffered a set-back with third straight defeat. Although it was RBI who opened the scoring early in the game.

In the 11th minute, Floyd Dharmai broke past HDFC’s defense and placed his effort in the back of the net. For a moment, the match seemed RBI’s to lose.

But HDFC responded brilliantly to punish RBI. Ramesh Singh levelled the scored in the 34th minute with a fine strike before Siddesh Batavalkar put HDFC’s noses in front with a sublime goal in the 51st minute.

RBI had their chances but lacked the killer instinct in front of the goal. HDFC, on the other end, made sure to capitalize their chances.

Ramesh Singh put the game beyond doubt after scoring his second of the day to give HDFC all three points.

Elite Division – Union Bank of India (UBI) 1-0 Central Bank of India (CBI)

A closely-contested encounter which saw Union Bank of India (UBI) registering a narrow 1-0 win against a spirited Central Bank of India (CBI) side in the second ‘Bankers Derby’ match at Mumbai Football Arena.

UBI came into the derby on the back of two wins and a draw while CBI had yet to win a game this season.

Both the sides performed equally good in the first forty-five minutes. There were enough chances but once again due to the poor finishing, the score was tied 0-0 at the break.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 51st minute when Sherwyn Chang scored a fantastic goal to give Union Bank of India (UBI) a vital lead. The goal gave UBI a huge boost as they defended superbly in the last half-an-hour.

UBI’s defense ended up being unscathed as they continued their red-hot form to register their third win of the season.