A strong display earns MS Police a draw against W. Railway

by Siddharth Yadav February 25, 2018

24th February 2018, Mumbai: On Saturday evening, an in-form Western Railway encountered MS (Maharashtra State) Police in a crucial MDFA Elite Division clash at Cooperage Stadium, earlier today. MS Police displayed a strong and commendable performance to earn a deserving 2-2 draw. The Railways could have retained their first spot from Air India had they won.

This was MS Police’s first Elite Division game in more than two months and they still went on to display their best performance of the season. With this draw, MS Police are looking strong to survive another season in Elite Division.

MSP made a terrific start when Kailash Pardi gave them a crucial lead in the 8th minute itself with a calmly one-on-one finish past Railway’s goalkeeper Jagroop.

The Police had a sensational game upfront but the lack of killer instinct in front of goal cost them a win. Just after opening the scoring, Rahul Pawra and Sameer Khan missed several great opportunities for MS Police which could have surely given them all three points.

But, on the other end, Western Railway made sure to convert their chances. In the 32nd minute, forward Lineker Machado levelled the score with a well-timed finish past MS Police’s goalkeeper Shailesh Naik.

Railway’s in-form striker Mervin Stephens was introduced in the second-half. He made a quick impact as Western Railway went 2-1 ahead in the early stages of the second half.

Kenistan played a delicate through ball to Mervin who calmly placed his effort past Shailesh to make it 2-1. Just like Mervin played his role after coming off the bench, MSP’s Himket Dembre also made a quick impact after being introduced.

Himket rounded the goalkeeper to score the equalizing goal with a sublime finish. His high pressing did the trick as the Railway’s lost ball possession many times in their own half.

Astonishingly, Railway’s coach P.V Vinoy also came off the bench to play the last 20-25 minutes as he was named in the squad. He and Lineker had great opportunities in the last stages of the match where the duo was left to rue their chances.