Note-1: The second Vision India pilot project was launched at the Khuman Lampak youth centre in the Manipur capital Imphal today. As per the Vision India programme the All-Manipur FA and football in Manipur would be developed as a model for other states in India along with Delhi.

Note-2: Earlier in the year the news was that the AIFF wanted to revive the Nehru Gold Cup international tournament with the help of the Kerala FA. The AIFF still wants the tournament to be held again, after the last one was held way back in April 1997 in Kochi, Kerala.
The Kerala FA had shown initial interest to host the event in December 2005, but until now they haven't send a proposal to the AIFF. Still the AIFF wants to revive the tournament with funds having been the main stumbling block for it to be held again.

Note-3: The Karnataka State FA will conduct a selection-cum-coaching camp at the Bangalore Football stadium on May 2 from 8 am to select the State under-21 team to participate in the U21 Nationals. Players born after January 1984 are eligible to participate, and are to report along with date of birth certificates to the coaches.

27. April
It is sad as a fan of Indian football to see what is happening with and at Mohun Bagan AC as relegation from the National League looms larger than ever on the Maidan giants. Last season Bagan retained their NFL status, but the situation was never as difficult as it is at the moment.
Even diehard East Bengal Club supporters should feel this way as their archrivals could go down and what will happen then is very difficult to predict. Already the club has problems through infighting and different factions having different interests for the club. The blame game is ongoing at the moment at the green-and-maroon.
Today the faction supporting club secretary Anjan Mitra organised a protest at the club tent, attended by around a 1000 members and supporters, to demand the resignation of the three court appointed special officers, especially that of Shyamal Sen, a former chief Justice of the Calcutta High cCurt and an ex West Bengal governor. Mr. Sen is said to have worked against the interests of the club and Mr. Mitra had written letters to the chief minister and the current WB governor for them to intervene as Mr. Sen was misusing his power as the chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.
Meanwhile Bagan have lodged a complaint with the AIFF against referee Benjamin D'Silva for his pole in Sunday's big Calcutta derby. The letter, written by assistant general secretary, Balaram Chowdhury, was sent to AIFF president Das Munshi. While Bagan hoped for a positive reply, if the AIFF would reply is not clear.

2.Division National League - Agartala - Qualifiers Group I: Lajong SSC 1-0 Assam State Electricity Board - Goal: 1-0 Sooki Lamare (33').
Shillong' Lajong SSC has qualified for the Phase I Group B of the 2.Division National League after a lone goal victory against favourites ASEB in the Group I qualifiers in Agartala, Tripura.

2.Division National League - Agartala - Qualifiers Group I: Nine Bullets 1-2 Rail Coach Factory - Goals: 1-0 Debu (23'), 1-1,1-2 ???.
Final 23 minutes of the match played today in the morning with RCF scoring two goals to win their first match.

Kerala State Club Football Championship - Pre-Quarterfinal: Hunters FC, Palakkad 4-3 Coastal Recreation Club, Kollam - Goals: 0-1 Ronson (15'), 1-1 Nawaz (22'), 1-2 Riaz (36'), 2-2 MB Rafi (44'), 3-2 Sanu (53'), 4-2 Veeravu (56'), 4-3 Bastin Simon (67').
Kerala State Club Football Championship - Pre-Quarterfinal: Viva Kerala 6-1 Sporting Soccer, Kasaragod - Goals: 0-1 Suresh Babu (27'), 1-1,3-1 VS Anuj (57',65'), 2-1,4-1 Jackson Sebastian (63',68'), 5-1 Denson Devadas (72'), 6-1 Benrajan (75').

Note-1: The six member AFC Vision Asia team arrived in Manipur today along with AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco to start the second pilot project of the Vision India programme. Manipur would like Delhi be set-up as a model state for football in India.
The AFC delegation would interact with the football franity in Imphal and also get to see the situation of football in Manipur, be it infrastructure, youth development and the women's game. The emphasis in Manipur would be different than in Delhi.
On arrival in Imphal the AFC delegation was welcomed by All-Manipur FA officials and in the evening they met the Manipur chief minister O Itobi Singh, who offered all possible support.

Note-2: Oil India Limited will sponsor the Assam state men's and women's team to prepare for the National Games 2005 to be held in the state. From the third phase of the preparations OIL would take charge of the men's team and for the both teams a preparatory budget of Rs 1,1 million has been put together. The men's team would tour Goa for exposure, while the women would be send to neighbouring Manipur.
The second phase of the camps would be held from third week of May with Moran as the venue. The Assam FA would get some financial help for this phase from OIL. Attending the camp would be the selected players from the first phase plus the players who represented Assam in the Santosh Trophy last year. The AFA has asked the AIFF to send a national level coach for the camp.

Note-3: The Guwahati inter-club football transfers in the Assam capital would be held from May 20 to 22. The day of withdrawal has been fixed as May 23.

26. April
At a press conference in the capital New Delhi the Vision India pilot project - Delhi was launched today.
An AFC delegation has been in the Delhi for the past three days to interact with the Delhi football franity and see for themselves what the infrastructure is like.
The seven-member AFC Vision Asia delegation was welcomed by the AIFF president Das Munshi and he explicitely thanked the AFC for their expertise and he was confident that the Indian side could generate the resources for the project to be a success.
The AFC secretary general Peter Velappan when talking to the media, he came down heavily on the local authorities for the lack of proper playgrounds in the capital.
"There are 82 clubs in Delhi and they play 360 games in three months in just six play grounds which is totally inadequate," Velappan said.
"We want more playing fields and we want the government’s help to convert the green zones to areas where football, for that matter any other sport, can be played. If the government does not help, there is no way. We have met the sport minister Sunil Dutt and he also gave us a patient hearing," he said.
"In Delhi we have only 15,000 playing soccer out of a population of 14 million which is very low. In places like Germany the ratio is as high as six per cent of the population," he said. "In the next five years, we will try and extend the reach. We want to have more footballers in schools which will help clubs and in the end India to climb up the ladder in the long term," Velappan said.
The AIFF president Das Munshi added that talks were being held with the Delhi Development Authority to use their sports centres across the city and that the Delhi chief minister Ms Sheila Dixit had assured him that the Ambedkar Stadium would have floodlights before the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Velappan went on to say, "India is the sleeping giant of soccer and we want to wake it up. Last five years have seen India emerging as a key player in all other field and they should not lag behind in soccer."
What the AFC delegation has seen in the last few days and also has said for the last few years is that Indian football has a large commercial potential. That potential needed to be tapped and make it a viable product. And Delhi would be the test case.
Tomorrow thw AFC delegation would travel to Manipur, where the second pilot project would be launched of the Vision India programme.

9th National League - Ludhiana: JCT Mills 0-1 Dempo SC - Goal: 0-1 Ranty Martins Soleye (37').
Former champions JCT Mills suffered a lone goal defeat at the hands of Federation Cup winners Dempo SC in a 9th National League match at the Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana. With the win today Dempo remain in the hunt for the NFL title as they now have 38 points from 18 matches, one less than the leading duo of Sporting Clube de Goa and East Bengal Club. JCT Mills meanwhile remain in sixth place with 26 points from 19 matches.
JCT coach Sukhwinder Singh once again opted for a young midfield and forwardline, keeping seasoned captain Ram Pal on the bench. The wingers Jaswinder Singh and Manjit Singh created a lot of trouble for the Dempo defence in the first half with their dashing runs, but the strikers just couldn't finish-off the created chances. The first chance came JCT's way in the 5.minute, when Harvinder from the left essayed the ball across to the right for Jaswinder, but his volley went wide. Further chances came Sukhwinder and Sukhjinder's way. Dempo had their first look at goal through their Sri Lankan striker Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya, but his shot went wide by a few centimetres. Against the run of play Dempo took the lead in the 37.minute when their Nigerian sharp-shooter Ranty Martins Soleye slotted home unmarked in the area off a Clifford Miranda freekick. It would remain the only goal of the match, a golden goal for Dempo. Thereafter JCT upped their attack even further and had a good chance through a Manjit Singh longranger just before the breather, but the ball sailed over the crossbar.
After the break JCT coach Sukhwinder used his quota of three substitutions to chance the score in his teams favour, but it just wasn't to be today. Dempo's defence which was weakened by the yellow card suspension of Nigerian Majekodumni Bolaji, still stood it's ground with captain Stanley Colaco, Dominic Noronha and youngster Pio Rodrigues putting in a strong performance.
JCT: Mansuru Mohammed, Daljit Singh, Harpreet Singh, Julius Irabor Akpele, KV Dhanesh, Jaswinder Singh (Baldeep Singh), Sukhwinder Singh, Sukhjinder Singh, Manjit Singh (Alexander Jebba), Harvinder Singh, Sakatar Singh (Ram Pal).
DEMPO: VP Satish Kumar, Pio Rodrigues, Stanley Colaco, Dominic Noronha, Melwyn Rodrigues, Johnny D'Cruz, Mario Soares (Nacimento Silveira), Riston Rodrigues, Clifford Miranda, Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya (Ishfaq Ahmed), Ranty Martins Soleye.
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Riston Rodrigues (Dempo).

2.Division National League - Agartala - Qualifiers Group I: Nine Bullets 1-0 Rail Coach Factory - Goal: 1-0 Debu (23').
The match was called-off in the 67.minute due to a heavy downpour. The last 23 minutes will be played tomorrow.

Kerala State Club Football Championship - Pre-Quarterfinal: Thrissur District Police 5-0 Allapuzha G. Sugunan Memorial Club
Kerala State Club Football Championship - Quarterfinal: FC Calicut 2-1 Indian Navy - Goals: 1-0,2-0 P Prasoon (76',85').

Note-1: Mohun Bagan AC's seasoned coach Amal Datta is upset with the standard of refereeing in the ongoing 9th National League and today heavily criticised the AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco and IFA secretary Subrata Datta for being inactive and not doing the necessary. He even went on to say that if this was the case the two men should resign.
Datta went on to say that the referee Benjamin D'Silva should be punished for his refereeing in the East Bengal-Mohun Bagan derby which was awful. What made him angry was the statement from the AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco that "nothing can be done without any proof." Datta asked the AIFF secretary to view a tape of the match, then he would have his proof.
Datta criticised the IFA secretary for being a "helpless" silent viewer in this affair. He also asked Subrata Datta to set down, if he was unable to do anything against these wrong-doings. And Datta went on to say that there was a conspiracy going on to degrade Bengal football on the national stage. A statement which also East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick and Tollygunge secretary Mantoo Ghosh had made recently.
The atmosphere in Calcutta in electric and depending on the final outcome of the NFL, there is trouble in store for Indian football.

Note-2: Shabbir Ali surprisingly is back as coach of Salgaocar SC for the last three 9th National League matches.
"Shabbir Ali joined the club from today as we wanted to relieve the present coach Savio Medeira, who would be leaving for Malaysia to attend AFC professional coaching course," Secretary of Salgaocar SC, Henry Britto confirmed.
Shabbir had left Goan rivals Churchill Brother earlier during the NFL as he had to attend his ailing wife in Hyderabad. Now Shabbir is back in Goa at the club, where he had his biggest success as club coach. Under Shabbir Salgaocar had won the NFL in 1998/99, also the Super Cup, Durand Cup, Rovers Cup and the Goa Pro League.
Savio Madeira would be in Kuala Lumpur for the AFC professional coaching course from May 2 to 22 along with Vasco coach Derrick Pereira.

25. April
9th National League - Calcutta: Tollygunge Agragami 2-2 Sporting Clube de Goa - Goals: 1-0 Akeem Abul Alem (32'), 1-1,1-2 MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (34',68'), 2-2 Gouranga Datta (81').
Relegation-fighting Tollygunge Agragami held title contenders Sporting Clube de Goa to a two-all draw in a Round 19 match of the 9th National League at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. For both sides the draw isn't of any help as Sporting Clube would have liked to have moved back into the top position with a two point lead and not on more goals scored, while Tollygunge weren't able to close the gap on eighth-placed Churchill Brothers. After having played 19 matches Sporting Clube are joint top of the NFL standings with 39 points and a goal difference of +20 along with defending champions East Bengal, but they lead through seven more scored, while East Bengal have played a match less. Tollygunge meanwhile remain 11th with only 16 points from 19 matches, four behind Churchill Brothers.
Tollygunge today played one of their best matches in this NFL, maybe even their best and they wanted to grab the chance to win and get three vital points in their fight for survival. That the Calcutta sides are staying together was also clear from the onset as more than a 1.000 East Bengal supporters cheered the Moore Avenue club. And Sporting Clube were somewhat surprised at what hit them, probably expecting an easier outing.
Tollygunge played a clever game today, unlike their performances in the last few weeks. They relied on their strength's, a rock solid defence and to rely on counter-attacks. And such counter-attack brought the lead for Tollygunge in the 32.minute when an outstanding Surojit Bose played an aerial through-pass to Nigerian striker Akeem Abul Alem, who beat the offside trap and surged forward to then unleash a left-footer which went into the goal on the far side. But the joy was very short-lived as only two minutes later Sporting Clube captain MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi equalised off a penalty after Saumik Dey had brought down Joseph Pereira in the area. Tollygunge were clearly the better of the two sides in the first half, but they missed too many chances. Akeem, who scored only his third NFL goal this season, was the main culprit missing two good chances.
After the breather Tollygunge continued to worry the Sporting Clube defence with their wing-play and counter-attacks. It was Surojit Bose who again and again set-up good moves, but his teammates just couldn't score again. In the 51.minute it was again Akeem who would have certainly scored wouldn't he have been blocked by Bibiano Fernandes, then a Suman Datta Jr shot hit the post in the 63.minute. Sporting Clube took the lead against the run of play in the 68.minute when a misunderstanding between keeper Sudip Sarkar and one of his defenders gifted Dudu the chance to score again, his 17th goal of this NFL. But today Tollygunge were just not going to give-in. In the 81.minuet two substituted combined to give Tollygunge the deserved equaliser, when Pankaj Basak floated the ball into the are for Gouranga Datta to head home. Late in the match Tollygunge could have even gotten the winner when a Gouranga shot came off the woodwork. Still an impressive display by Tollygunge and one has to question why the team hasn't played like this before, because then they would have nothing to do with relegation. Now it might have been to late, to little.
After a spectacular three-all in Goa in the opening round of the 9th NFL, today's honours were also even with a two-all draw.
TOLLYGUNGE: Sudip Sarkar, Santosh Singh, Isiaka Awoyemi, Suley Musah, Debkumar Sashmal, Saumik Dey, Suman Dutta Jr (75' Pankaj Basak), Chinmoy Sarkar (46' Gouranga Dutta), Surajit Bose (88' Ramu Adhikari), Suman Dutta Sr, Akeem Abul Alem.
SPORTING CLUBE: Luis Xavier Barreto, CK Jiteesh, Philip Gomes, David Suresh, N Rajesh Meetei, Wilton Gomes, Nicholas L Rodrigues (68' Peter Pereira), Joseph Pereira (46' Joe Rodrigues), Bibiano Fernandes, Chidi Edeh (57' Nicolas Borges), MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi.
REFEREE: Dinesh Nair (Gujarat).
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Akeem Abul Alem (Tollygunge).

2.Division National League - Agartala - Qualifiers Group I: Manipur Police SC 1-1 Lajong SSC - Goals: 0-1 Roland Pyngrope (41'), 1-1 Janerdro Singh.

Kerala State Club Football Championship - Round 1: Sporting Soccer, Kasaragod 1-1,5-4 Christ College, Thrissur [penalties] - Goals: 0-1 CA George (3'), 1-1 Riju (16').
Kerala State Club Football Championship - Pre-Quarterfinal: Indian Navy 1-0 AFC, Thiruvalla - Goal: 1-0 PKM Antony (47').

Note-1: The AFC Vision India team led by the AFC general secretary Peter Velappan has been in the capital New Delhi for the last couple of days. The AFC general secretary Peter Velappan will address a press conference on the findings of the team and what they have discussed in their workshop in the capital.
Part of the delegation are Director National Associations Brendan Menton, Director Referees Department Garry Power, Shivakumar, Imtiaz Ahmed, Jita Singh and Bashir. In the two day workshop (yesterday and today) they interacted with the Delhi football scene, meeting officials from the Delhi Soccer Association, various clubs, Government institutions, Delhi Development Authority and educational institutions.
Today the delegation looked at the standard of coaches and referees, their training methods and the infrastructure available in the capital. And there they had to see the problems of the capital, which has no exclusive football stadium, where the Delhi Municipal Corporation owned Ambedkar Stadium is the main venue. But the venue is also let for political rallies and other sundry functions.
What the AFC has made clear is that it is keen that football, which is poorly administered and run in the country by the AIFF, is streamlined in a nation where cricket remains the number one sport. The AFC sees the vast potential of the game.

Note-2: The under-19 National League is set to be played next month. This year the AIFF has asked the IFA (West Bengal) to host the league-cum-knockout tournament in Calcutta. But in their bid to spread football across Bengal, the IFA is contemplating with the idea to play matches in Siliguri (North Bengal) and Barasat, outside Calcutta.

Note-3: The Calcutta Sports Journalists Club will present their annual Best Sportsperson of the Year award for 2004 on Thursday at 17-30 IST at their Maidan Tent in Calcutta. While Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was adjudged the best national Sportsperson of the Year 2004, in the West Bengal best player of the year award for the best footballer, East Bengal's Climax Lawrence is the winner and will receive the award.

24. April
9th National League - Calcutta: Mohun Bagan AC 0-1 East Bengal Club - Goal: 0-1 Syed Rahim Nabi (76').
Champions East Bengal Club scored a lone goal away victory against Maidan archrivals Mohun Bagan AC in the 9th National League at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. With today's crucial victory East Bengal moved back to the top of the NFL standings with now 39 points from 18 matches, ahead of rivals Sporting Clube de Goa and Dempo SC. The defeat for Mohun Bagan meant that they stay on 18 points from 19 matches and they for the moment remain ninth, on a relegation spot.
The Saltlake stadium was not even half full on a hot and humid Calcutta Sunday afternoon in late-April. Too many derbies between the two sides a season, the gap between the two sides in the table and the success and failure of the two rivals over the last few years has sadly taken away some of the flair and interest in India's biggest football derby.
Mohun Bagan coach Amal Datta didn't risk too much in his first eleven as he had speculated yesterday and used the tried and tested. East Bengal played a sluggish first half with not much to show. A couple of chances to Brazilian Juliano Martins, who got a chance from coach Subhas Bhowmick, was all. Mohun Bagan got their chances in the first half against the champions, but they missed their chances as has been usual in this NFL for them. Just 11 goals in 18 matches, just isn't enough and their top scorer Roberto Mendes Silva with five goals was also the main culprit today. In the 15.minute the Brazilian striker worked his way close to the box, but his shot sailed over the crossbar, while a few minutes later he couldn't connect a Mehtab Hussein freekick.
Also the referee Benjamin D'Silva didn't have the best of his days. Bagan were unlucky not to get a penalty close to the quarter hour mark when Debjit Ghosh handled the ball in the area of a Besudeb Mondal pass. Later on he denied both sides a penalty. First East Bengal's Nabi pushed Mehtab Hussein, later Mehtab pushed Nabi. On all occasions the whistle remained silent. Also in the second half Bijen Singh just on the ground for a few minutes got away with a yellow card for his handling of Mehraj Din Wadoo which could have earned him an expulsion.
But after the breather East Bengal came out with the aim to score. It seemed the vocal tonic of coach Subhas Bhowmick had worked and Indian international Alvito D'Cunha led from the front. East Bengal clearly missed Baichung Bhutia, but in the second half Nigerian striker Earnest Jeremiah was pushed-up further, who had played more withdrawn in the first half. The winner came in the 76.minute when Syed Rahim Nabi headed in a left-footed Alvito D'Cunha cross from the right with the Bagan defence not reacting. It was the only major mistake by a strong Bagan defence today, but they paid dearly for it.
MOHUN BAGAN: Subrata Pal, Manitombi Singh, Ajibade Babalade, Eduardo Coelho Chacon Lacerda, Rishi Kapoor, Mehraj Din Wadoo, Mehtab Hussein, Basudeb Mondal (46' Palash Karmakar), Tomba Singh, Sunil Chetri (59' Jerry Zirsanga), Roberto Mendes Silva.
EAST BENGAL: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Syed Rahim Nabi, Muttath Suresh, Selwyn Fernandes, Debjit Ghosh, Sasthi Duley, Shylo Malswam Tulunga (54' Bijen Singh), Climax Lawrence, Alvito D'Cunha (80' Sandip Das), Earnest Jeremiah, Juliano Martins (62' Dipankar Roy).
REFEREE: Benjamin D'Silva (Goa).
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Alvito D'Cunha (East Bengal).

9th National League - Calicut: State Bank of Travancore 1-1 Salgaocar SC - Goals: 1-0 M Mohammed Rafi (15'), 1-1 Bello Rasaq (76').
Promoted State Bank of Travancore held former champions Salgaocar SC to a one-all draw in a 9th National League match at the Municipal Corporation Stadium, Calicut. For SBT the point was too little in their fight to avoid relegation as they now have 14 points from 19 matches, six behind eighth-placed Churchill Brothers, the first non-relegation spot. And now it looks very very unlikely that Kerala's only NFL side will stay in the NFL. Meanwhile Salgaocar as seventh have 23 points also from 19 matches and are currently five clear of the relegation spots.
The first time the two sides met this season was in the opening match of the NFL, which SBT surprisingly had won 4-3 away in Goa. It was a spectacular match where both sides played an open game and used the chances that came their way. Today the match was different, mainly in one aspect, both sides missed many chances and it ended in a one-all draw.
SBT coach Najeeb today fielded a young attack with Mohammed Rafi and Mohammed Aslam, keeping seasoned Sylvester Ignatius and Asif Saheer on the bench. And this seemed to payoff in the 15.minute when Mohammed Rafi headed in a Paul Antony freekick after Abdul Hakkim had been brought down by Bello Rasaq. SBT could have doubled the lead in the 30.minute when Abdul Hakkim's shot missed the target off a Mohammed Aslam cross. Thereafter Salgaocar had the better chances, but young SBT keeper Jean Christian often stood in the way and for his credible performance he afterwards got the "Man of the Match" award. Francis Andrade had only keeper Christian to beat in the 37.minute, but he didn't get past him, also not off a rebound.
After the break SBT took a defensive approach, only concentrating to defend their one goal lead. And somehow it was waiting to backfire. Salgaocar got the equaliser in the 76.minute when their Nigerian captain Bello Rasaq equalised of a Fabio dos Passos corner. Three minutes from time SBT could have won through substitute V Sivakumar, but keeper Juje Siddi cleared the situation. And on the counter-attack Salgaocar nearly took home the three points, but Jean Christian was in the way of a Samson Singh shot.
SBT: Jean Christian, Paul Antony, M Abdul Basheer, NP Pradeep, KM Abdul Naushad, AB Kabeer, M Lanel Thomas, TV Mohammed Harris, MA Abdul Hakkim, M Mohammed Rafi, AG Mohammed Aslam.
SALGAOCAR: Juje Siddi, Remus Gomes, Roberto Fernandes, John Charles Dias, Bello Rasaq, A Jyothi Kumar, Rocus Lamare, Bhuvan Krishna Joshi, Francis Andrade, Fabio dos Passos, Felix Ibrebru.
REFEREE: T Pradeep Kumar (Tamil Nadu).
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Jean Christian (SBT).

2.Division National League - Agartala - Qualifiers Group I: Rail Coach Factory 1-3 Assam State Electricity Board - Goals: 0-1 Sanjeeva Rongpi (25'), 1-1 Gurpreet Singh (38'), 1-2 Lalhriat Zuala (75'), 1-3 Nitu Narzary (80').
2.Division National League - Cuttack - Qualifiers Group III: SAI Centre, Orissa 2-2 Indian Air Force - Goals: 0-1,1-2 Ravindra Thapriyal (46',57'), 1-1 Ram Chandra Murmu (51'), 2-2 Manas Ranjan Samal (80').

Kerala State Club Football Championship - Pre-Quarterfinal: FC Calicut 2-1 Payyanur Town Club

Note-1: Karnataka State Police yesterday qualified from the Group IV qualifiers in Chennai for the 2.Division National League Phase I Group A after a spectacular last match involving Chennai champions Madras Sporting Union and Kerala side Titanium XI. Aspiring Madras Sporting Union were leading 3-0 against Titanium after 32.minute and it looked as if Sporting Union had sealed their advance to the next round, but then they substituted their midfielder creative Cleetus with Nathaniel and Titanium scored a goal in the 40.minute and things took a nasty turn for Sporting Union in the second half. A 3-2 win would have been enough to top the group, but Titanium showed real sporting spirit to beat Madras Sporting Union 4-3 with an 88.minute winner. What an anti-climax for Madras Sporting Union.
So after Karnataka State Police made it surprisingly from Group IV; Group III was won by Bengal Mumbai FC and Group II by EverReady SA, Calcutta, as had been expected. Still in action is Group I in Agartala, where the winner is open yet.

Note-2: The Kerala State League would be held from May 10 at the Corporation Stadium in Thrissur with all the big clubs from across Kerala taking part. The league would see defending champions State Bank of Travancore along with Titanium XI; Central Excise, Kochi; Kerala State Electricity Board; Kochin Port Trust and Viva Kerala in action.

23. April
9th National League - Goa: Churchill Brothers SC 2-1 Mahindra United - Goals: 1-0 Yakubu Yusif (10'), 1-1 Rodrigo Marcos Marques da Silva (21'), 2-1 Marcos Pereira (73').
Churchill Brothers SC scored a vital 2-1 victory against Mahindra United in the 9th National League at the Nehru Stadium, Margao in their fight for survival in India's top division. For the first time in month's Churchill Brothers moved out of the relegation zone with now 20 points from 19 matches into eighth place, but ninth-placed Mohun Bagan have a match in hand. Meanwhile Mahindra United lost a good chance to move into fourth as they stay behind Fransa FC by a point with 28 points from the same number of matches after only their third defeat.
Churchill Brothers success or failure this season depends on their Ghanian-Brazilian duo upfront, Yakubu Yusif and Marco Pereira. The duo had scored 18 of 19 Churchill goals in this NFL before today's match, with only other goal coming from IM Vijayan. Today both added one more goal to their tally to have scored an impressive 95 percent of Churchill's goals. But that also shows Churchill's main problem, if the two have a bad day or are out, the team is unable to score. But today that wasn't the case as the team got the much-needed three points.
Churchill Brothers started aggressively with the aim to take an early lead. The attack was lead by Yakubu and Marcos and they got good support from the wingers Sanjay Parte and Sujoy Datta. The attacks brought an early 10.minute lead when Yakubu was the fastest to react to a Chitrasen Singh rebound to score, while the Mahindra defence was caught napping. Having taken an early lead Churchill continued their raids on the Mahindra goal. Marcos and Ratan Singh twice had good chances in the next few minutes, but it was Mahindra who equalised in the 21.minute when their Brazilian import Rodrigo Marcos Marques da Silva headed in a Steven Dias cross. Suddenly after the goal Mahindra took control of proceedings and their Brazilian striker Flavio Rodrigues could have scored on two occasions but twice Churchill keeper Mark Mascarenhas was in the way. It stayed one-all at half time.
After the breather Churchill once again upped their attacks and it was once again Yakubu and Marcos who caused problems to the Mahindra defence. In the 73.minute it was Marcos who gave the Goans the lead off a header from a corner from substitute Roque Barreto. But after taking the lead Churchill did come under pressure from Mahindra who tried to get a late equaliser. The best chance came close to the end of the match when Rodrigo Marcos Marques da Silva nearly scored his second goal, but he was denied by a Satish Bharti goalline clearance.
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Marcos Pereira (Churchill).

2.Division National League - Agartala - Qualifiers Group I: Nine Bullets 0-0 Lajong SSC - Goals: none
2.Division National League - Siliguri - Qualifiers Group II: EverReady SA 1-0 Jammu&Kashmir Bank - Goal: 1-0 Amit Das (45+').
2.Division National League - Cuttack - Qualifiers Group III: Bengal Mumbai FC 2-0 Sports College FC - Goals: 1-0 Nirmal Deep Singh (19'), 2-0Nagesh Swamy (86').
2.Division National League - Chennai - Qualifiers Group IV: Madras Sporting Union 3-4 Titanium XI - Goals: 1-0 Johny (11'), 2-0,3-0 Venkatesan (16',32'), 3-1,3-3 Ebin Rose (40',63'), 3-2 T Usman (48'), 3-4 Sajan Louis (88').

Mohun Bagan AC vs East Bengal Club preview:
Tomorrow the Old Firm derby in Glasgow, Scotland between Rangers and Celtic, one of the biggest derbies in the world will be played, but in India the focus and attention will be on Indian football's biggest derby, the Calcutta Maidan derby between Mohun Bagan AC and East Bengal Club. Derbies around the world have their own rules, current league positions and form do not count, emotions run high. Nothing different in Calcutta.
But tomorrow's Calcutta derby could be decisive on a number of fronts and that could shape the future of Indian football. Tomorrow's match will not only be played for pride but also for three crucial points, which both teams urgently need in the 9th National League. While East Bengal are on 36 points from 17 matches, they need the points to win the title and create history by winning three back-to-back titles, for Mohun Bagan it is a matter of survival. After Churchill Brothers won today Mohun Bagan slipped down to ninth into the relegation zone with only 18 points from 18 matches. A dangerous, precarious scenario where India's oldest club could face the drop and what would happen after that is totally unsure, unclear.
The tie is also the match-up between coaches Subhas Bhowmick and Amal Datta. And both will be pondering what system and which players to use. Sure is East Bengal will miss Baichung Bhutia due to a double booking and Deepak Mondal due to injury. The coach welcomes back Muttath Suresh and Alvito D'Cunha from injury and will have to decide who joins Earnest Jeremiah upfront in attack - Bijen Singh or Brazilian Juliano Martins.
Mohun Bagan meanwhile will miss for sure Dharamjit Singh also due to a double booking and the fitness of Nigerian Ajibade Babalade and Jo Paul Ancheri is in question, but the team welcomes Sunil Chetri back in action after an infectious disease and he will play upfront to add teeth to the Bagan attack. But Amal Datta would be himself, if he didn't think and try some new ideas and he is set to play Palash Karmakar and Praveen Rawat. Especially Rawat starting the match would be a major surprise, as he has not really figures in Bagan's NFL campaign.
So lets wait and see what happens tomorrow. The fans from both sides will only be hoping for victories for their sides...

Note-1: The AIFF has rescheduled two upcoming NFL matches. The JCT Mills - Dempo SC match to be played at the Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana on April 25 has been postponed by a day and would now be played on April 26; while the Mahindra United - East Bengal Club match on May 5 in Mumbai has been preponed by a day and would now be played on May 4 as has been reported by us.

Note-2: The Pakistan Football Federation today at a meeting in Lahore finalised the venues and kickoffs for the Pakistan-India series in June. Quetta, Peshawar and Lahore will be hosting the three matches.
Quetta's Ayub Sports Complex will be hosting the series opener on June 12 at 17.00 PST, then the two sides would meet at the Qayyum Sports Complex in Peshawar on June 16, and the final match would be held at the Punjab Stadium in Lahore. The last two matches would be floodlight matches and would therefore kickoff at 20.30 PST.

22. April
9th National League - Goa: Fransa FC 2-3 Vasco SC - Goals: 0-1 Sidney Santana Rodrigues (22'), 1-1,2-2 Joseph Toochukwu Ogor (28',76'), 1-2 Francis Fernandes (43'), 2-3 Levy Coelho (86').
Vasco SC scored an important 3-2 away victory against Goans rivals Fransa FC in the 9th National League at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. The win enabled Vasco to move away from the bottom of the NFL standings from 11th to ninth still in the relegation zone, but only a point away from eighth-placed Mohun Bagan. Vasco now have 17 point from 19 matches, while Fransa remain in fourth place on 29 points from the same number of matches.
It was a Goan derby where both sides had their interest to win and it ended in a 3-2 win for the people's club, Vasco SC. And these points could be crucial to keep Vasco in the NFL. One will have to wait and see...
Vasco played an attacking game today, making clear from the onset that they wanted to win. Vasco got a penalty in the 22.minuet when Fransa defender Sanjeev Kumar Maria brought down striker Alex Ambrose. Brazilian midfielder Sidney Santana Rodrigues made no mistake to score to the right of Fransa keeper Kalyan Chaubey. But the lead only lasted six minutes as Nigerian striker Joseph Toochukwu Ogor equalised for Fransa off a freekick. The equaliser didn't demoralise Vasco as they continued their attacks and they again took the lead in the 43.minute when youngster Francis Fernandes scored from the right into the far corner of the net past Kalyan Chaubey off a pass from Menino Fernandes.
After the breather Vasco could have enhanced the lead as they had numerous chances. Brazilian striker Fabio Xavier Soares had the best, but he was unable to get past Chaubey in a one-to-one situation. And then Ogor once again equalised for Fransa in the 76.minute off a pass from substitute TV Biju Kumar. But Vasco wanted to win today and did the extra work needed to earn a win and they deservedly got the winner in the 86.minute when a Kamal Thapa cross was utilised by substitute Levy Coelho, who made no mistake to score the winner. Once again it was Levy who had earned Vasco a point just four days ago against Mohun Bagan with a 90.minute equaliser.
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Francis Fernandes (Vasco).

2.Division National League - Agartala - Qualifiers Group I: Manipur Police SC 1-1 Assam State Electricity Board - Goals: 1-0 I Nilakumar Singh (19'), 1-1 Mitradev Swargiary (50').
2.Division National League - Siliguri - Qualifiers Group II: Uttar Pradesh Police 1-1 Azad SC - Goals: 1-0 Ramesh Rawat (33'), 1-1 Laxmi Ram (65').
2.Division National League - Chennai - Qualifiers Group IV: Karnataka State Police 8-1 Young Challengers - Goals: 1-0,2-0,5-0 BV Pradeep (6',27',72'), 3-0 Girish (44'), 4-0 Maheshwaran (70'), 6-0,8-0 Sameer Ahmed (79',86'), 7-0 Sampath Kumar (80'), 8-1 Balaguru (90').

Note-1: Due to entertainment tax imposed by the Punjab government on matches of JCT Mills at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana so far, there was no ticketing and free access to all fans. But now to bring the ticketing in conformity to the rules and regulations of the AIFF tickets will be printed for the last couple of NFL matches of JCT Mills after the Punjab government okayed to do any with the entertainment tax.
Now for the matches on April 25 against Dempo SC and on April 30 against Mohun Bagan tickets have been priced at Rs 10 and Rs 15.

Note-2: "Player of Indian Origin" Michael Chopra, an England Junior international, could be out for the rest of the season with mumps. That was the info from his current club Barnsley FC, English League One, where he is currently on loan from Premier League side Newcastle United. Chopra has been having a successful season with Barnsley for whom he has scored 17 goals this season, but now it is set to be cut short.

21. April
9th National League - Calcutta: Tollygunge Agragami 1-3 JCT Mills - Goals: 0-1 Manjit Singh (16'), 0-2 Sakatar Singh (30'), 0-3 Harvinder Singh (73'), 1-3 Suman Dutta Jr. (86').
Tollygunge Agragami suffered another setback in their fight for survival in the 9th National League with a 1-3 defeat at the hands of former champions JCT Mills at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. After 18 matches Tollygunge remain on only 15 points and in 10th position, a relegation spot at the end of the season. Meanwhile JCT cemented their sixth place with 26 points from the same number of matches, still with a chance to move as high as into fourth place in the final standings. Totally different outlooks for the two clubs.
Tollygunge made a good start into the match as early on they had two good chances of Nigerian striker Akeem Abul Alem and winger Kabijit Khotel, but their problem of the season their finishing continued today. It was JCT who took the lead in the 16.minute of a Manjit Singh longranger which beat Tollygunge keeper Sudip Sarkar hands down. Tollygunge could have equalised in the 25.minute through Akeem but his shot just couldn't beat JCT keeper Mansuru Mohammed. Tollygunge's defence was once again error prone with especially Suley Musah often looking out of sorts as the Ghanian looked far from match fit, but he was only substituted at the hour mark. JCT utilised this weakness a second time in the 30.minute when youngster Sakatar Singh scored of a Sukhjinder Singh cross with the defenders unable to clear the ball. For Sakatar it was his first-ever NFL goal. It remained two-nil for JCT at the breather.
After the lemon break Tollygunge tried to get back into the match creating some openings, but they just couldn't create chances to score. It was JCT who sealed the match in the 73.minute when a Baldeep Singh shot took a deflection of Isiaka Awoyemi to land in Harvinder Singh's path and he made no mistake to score. JCT relaxed after taking a three goal lead and allowed Tollygunge more openings. Teenager Suman Datta Jr. did pull one goal back for the Moore Avenue club in the 86.minute, but by then it was too late for a fightback.
TOLLYGUNGE: Sudip Sarkar, Kabijit Khotel, Isiaka Awoyemi, Suley Musah (60' Suman Dutta Jr), Debkumar Sashmal, Saumik Dey (71' Pankaj Basak), Chinmoy Sarkar, Surajit Bose, Santosh Singh (42' Gouranga Dutta), Tarif Ahmed, Akeem Abul Alem.
JCT: Mansuru Mohammed, Daljit Singh, Julius Irabor Akpele, KV Dhanesh, Taranjit Singh, Jaswinder Singh (54' Baldeep Singh), Sukhjinder Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Manjit Singh, Harvinder Singh (80' Hardip Singh Gill), Sakatar Singh (46' Ram Pal).
REFEREE: Chamchuk Lama (Sikkim).
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Manjit Singh (JCT).

2.Division National League - Agartala - Qualifiers Group I: Rail Coach Factory 1-2 Lajong SSC - Goals: 1-0 Manjinder Singh (35'), 1-1 Romeo Sukhlein (67'), 1-2 Kitkupar Kharshing (90+1').
2.Division National League - Cuttack - Qualifiers Group III: SAI Centre, Orissa 1-3 Bengal Mumbai FC

Note-1: World football governing body FIFA has decided to release an initial 5,8 Million US-Dollars from the FIFA/AFC Tsunami solidarity fund to the national FAs affected by the December 2004 Tsunamis. The AIFF has received a sum of USD 1 Million, converted over Rs 40 million. The other recipients have been Indonesia (2,5), Sri Lanka (2,5), Maldives (1,0), Thailand (0,5) and Bangladesh (0,1). This was decided at the first meeting of the FIFA Tsunami working group held under the chairmanship of AFC president Mohamed Bin Hamman.
The total sum collected through the solidarity fund stands at UDS 10,9 Million.

Note-2: It was a miserable afternoon for Tollygunge Agragami, Calcutta's No.3 club in the National League. And with relegation looming large for the Moore Avenue club from the elite league after having fought to stay in the NFL for seven years, they all seem to be a bundle of nerves.
After the match against JCT today coach Biswajit Das wanted to resign as he claimed club officials, especially secretary Mantoo Ghosh, interfered with his work today, even taking over the coaching from him during the match. Das was asked to stay on as coach by the club management, but has not made-up his mind yet.
Further there seems to be trouble with Ghanian Suley Musah. The club claims that Musah never wanted to play for Tollygunge but was forced to play for them with East Bengal releasing him and no other offer on the table. Musah is said to have been carrying an injury for quite some time, but never openly informed the officials and the coach, and also he deliberately sat out the match against his former club East Bengal. Musah was also blamed for the first goal conceeded goals today as he wasn't match fit. Musah has been send a letter and has been asked to reply in writing or he would face tough action from the club.

20. April
The latest FIFA World Rankings were released today by the world governing body and INDIA has dropped a place to 135th in the world of 205 listed nations and territories. In Asia meanwhile we remain 26th among 44 nations. The next official asignment of the national team will be the Tour to Pakistan in June.

AFC U17 Women's Championships - Group A: INDIA U17 6-0 Indonesia U17 - Goals: 1-0,4-0 Bala Ngangom (26',54'), 2-0 Lalvarmoi Hmar (40+1'), 3-0 Ranjita Thangjam (52'), 5-0 Chanu Chingtham (75'), 6-0 Maibam Devi (80+1').
The Indian U17 Girls earned a 6-0 win against minnows Indonesia in their last Group A match of the AFC U17 Women's Championships at the Sports Park, Namhae island. After having been eliminated after two losses in their first two games, the Indian girls won rather easily against the Indonesians, who had suffered very heavy losses in their prior engagements.
INDIA U17: 1-Wangkhem Devi, 3-Romi Ashem, 17-Suganya Raju (60' 21-Manpreet Sidhu), 4-Ranjita Thangjam (80' 18-Gulti Choudhury), 12-Suprava Samal (60' 16-Nameirakpam Devi), 6-Chanu Chingtham, 8-Lalvarmoi Hmar, 9-Maibam Devi, 15-Manpreet Kaur, 7-Sapna Guria, 10-Bala Ngangom.

AFC Cup 2004 - Calcutta - Group A: East Bengal Club 0-1 Al-Faysali, JORDAN - Goal: 0-1 Hatem Mohammed Yousef Aqel (30').
Indian champions East Bengal Club suffered a 0-1 home defeat at the hands of Jordanian giants Al-Faysali in a Group A match of the AFC Cup at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. Al-Faysali remain top of Group A with now 10 points, while East Bengal remain on only one point and are out of contention for a quarterfinal place.
It was a hot and humid afternoon in Calcutta, which seemed to be a bigger problem for Al-Faysali then their Indian opponents. East Bengal fielded a number of their fringe players and adopted an ultra-defensive approach not to allow the Jordanians to take the lead. The strategy didn't payoff as Al-Faysali took the lead in the 30.minute of a penalty taken by captain Hatem Mohammed Yousef Aqel, after Saman Jehad Saman Malasa was brought down in the area by Muttath Suresh. Earlier Aqel's shot in the 12.minute had sailed over the crossbar. East Bengal's best chance came a minute from the break when Syed Rahim Nabi played the ball to Sasthi Duley, but his header went straight to the keeper.
East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick reacted in the second half, first bringing on Baichung Bhutia at the restart and later in the match Alvito D'Cunha to strengthen the attack. Alvito came on just after Jordanian Qusai Mohammed Mah'd Abu Alieh received his marching orders for his second yellow card of the match. East Bengal could have equalised late in the match, but it just wasn't to be. The best chance came a minute from time for Nigerian striker Earnest Jeremiah, but he just couldn't score.
EAST BENGAL: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Muttath Suresh, Debjit Ghosh, Selwyn Fernandes, Gurpreet Singh (40' Sasthi Duley), Syed Rahim Nabi, Sandip Das (72' Alvito D'Cunha), Climax Lawrence, Marcos Secco, Bijen Singh (46' Baichung Bhutia), Earnest Jeremiah.
AL-FAYSALI: Lo'Al Salem A Elamarieh, A Mohammed A Alshuaibat (89' Arkan N Shamoun), Mohammed K Rajeh Khamees (23' A Mohammed Ali Almaharmeh), Saman Jehad Saman Malasa, Khaled SS Almalta'Ah, Qusai Mohammed Mah'd Abu Alieh, Sharif Adnan S Nassar, Hatem Mohammed Yousef Aqel, Mohammed Zuhair H Shawish, Abdulelah YA Alhanahneh, Hussein Ziad H Odtallah.
Yellow-Red Card: Qusai Mohammed Mah'd Abu Alieh (Al-Faysali).
REFEREE: Irmatov Ravshan (Uzbekistan).
Detailed information are available at the >>Indian Clubs in Asia Special.

AFC Cup 2004 - Irbit City - Group B: Al-Hussein, JORDAN 2-0 Dempo SC - Goals: 1-0 Ibrahim Hamad Al-Riahna (53'), 2-0 Anas Khleef Ahmad Al-Zboun (80').
Jordanians Al-Hussein beat Indian Federation Cup champions Dempo SC 2-0 at home in a Group B match of the AFC Cup at the Al Hassan international stadium in Irbid City, northwestern Jordan. With this win Al-Hussein qualified for the quarterfinal knockout stage, while Dempo where eliminated from the competition.
Detailed information are available at the >>Indian Clubs in Asia Special.

9th National League - Goa: Sporting Clube de Goa 1-0 Salgaocar SC - Goal: 1-0 MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (42').
Sporting Clube de Goa moved to the top of the 9th National League standings with a 1-0 win against Goan rivals and former champions Salgaocar SC at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. Surprise package Sporting Clube now head the NFL with 38 poinst from 18 matches with the other title contenders defending champions East Bengal and Federation Cup winners Dempo SC busy with AFC Cup commitments. The Round 18 clash between East Bengal and Dempo SC has been therefore postponed until May 16.
For Sporting Clube it was the sixth win in a row, also their third one-nil win in a row. This win streak surely has made Sporting Clube a very hot contender for the title with the two other sides having an indifferent form at the moment.
The first half was evenly contested between the two sides but it was Sporting Clube who took the lead in the 42.minute when a header from captain MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi of a long pass from fellow Nigerian Adebayo Adewusi landed in the goal. It was Dudu's 15th goal in the current NFL and he is the highest goalscorer of the league at the moment. Only a minute later Dudu could have doubled the lead but his shot went wide.
In the second half it was Salgaocar who went in search of the equaliser and coach Savio Madeira made substitutions to strengthen his attack. Sporting Clube were lucky on a number of occasions and can thank keeper Luis Barreto who stood his ground to deny Salgaocar a goal on numerous tries. The Salgaocar strikers found their master in Barreto, who played one of his best matches of his career. Salgaocar substitutes Freddy Mascarenhas and Samson Singh on coming on directly tested Barreto in goal. In the last twenty minutes it was Barreto vs Salgaocar. First he denied a longrange effort from Freddy in the 70.minute, then he spectacularly saved a Samson volley in the 74.minute, before punching away a Felix Ibrebru header in the 78.minute. In the last ten minutes Salgaocar pushed-up everyone not needed to defend to get the equaliser and this left gaps in defence. Sporting Clube could have settled the match with one of their counter-attacks with Dudu having the best chance in a one-to-one situation against keeper Juje Siddi. In the end all Salgaocar attacks didn't lead anywhere as Sporting Clube won one-nil as in the two previous matches.
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Luis Xavier Barreto (Sporting Clube).

2.Division National League - Agartala - Qualifiers Group I: Nine Bullets 0-3 Assam State Electricity Board - Goals: 0-1,0-2,0-3 Sushil Kumar Singh (38',51',81').
2.Division National League - Siliguri - Qualifiers Group II: Jammu&Kashmir Bank 4-1 Azad SC
2.Division National League - Cuttack - Qualifiers Group III: Indian Air Force 1-2 Sports College FC - Goals: 0-1 Abhishek Kumar, 0-2 Mohammad Arif, 1-2 Sanat Kar (83').
2.Division National League - Chennai - Qualifiers Group IV: Karnataka State Police 2-1 Titanium XI - Goals: 1-0 Naveen Moses (20'), 2-0 BV Pradeep (44'), 2-1 Ebin Rose (90+').

Note-1: The Pakistan Football Federation today informed the media that the AIFF had confirmed that the Indian national team would travel to Pakistan to play a three-test series in June. The matches would be held on June 12, 16 and 19. The PFF would hold a meeting with the presidents of all the provincial FAs on April 23 to decide the venues for the three matches, which would then be send to the AIFF for final confirmation.
Further it was once again stated that the PFF president Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat is keen to hold Pakistan-India football matches on English soil with talks with some top English clubs already said to have been held about such matches.

Note-2: Delhi and Manipur have been chosen by the AFC as two pilot states for the implementation of the Vision India Stragetic Plan - a blueprint for the development of the game in the country.
The Vision India team of the AFC and the AIFF will help in building up the Delhi Soccer Association and the All-Manipur FA as model associations in the country.
The Vision India Team will be in the capital from April 24 to 27 to analyse the present status of football in the capital and to recommend remedial measures. Thereafter they would travel to Manipur.
According to DSA secretary NK Bhatia, the AFC's Vision India team is being led by its General Secretary Dato Peter Velappan and includes among others Director National Association Brendan Menron, Director Referees Jita Singh, Director Grassroots and Youth P Sivakumar, Development Officers Imtiaz Rehman and Mohd Basir.
Bhatia said Vision India will develop and study the conduct of the Delhi Soccer League, the structure and the administrative set-up of the DSA, youth and women's competitions, referees and coaches development, marketing and communication.
But the DSA has a major problem to look into, which is the Ambedkar Stadium ground which is in a mess after political rallies and functions.

19. April
9th National League - Goa: Fransa FC 2-1 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Benjamin Owusu Ansah (3',20'), 2-1 Marcos Pereira (89').
Debutants Fransa FC overcame their much more famed Goan rivals Churchill Brothers SC 2-1 in a 9th National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. With today's win Fransa moved back into fourth position with 29 points from 18 matches, while Churchill Brothers remain in the relegation zone in ninth place with 17 points from the same number of matches.
The cruelty of the defeat today for was that former players of the team brought on the defeat for the Churchill Brothers - the double strike from striker Benjamin Owusu Ansah and in defence AS Firoze, who switched over to Fransa in the summer.
Fransa got an early goal in the third minute when hardworking midfielder Hardip Singh Saini gave a pass to Ghanian Benjamin Owusu Ansah, who got past a few defender and his left-footer then beat diving Churchill goalkeeper Mark Mascarenhas. Churchill Brothers weren't shocked as they went in search of the equaliser. In the 7.minute youngster Godwin Franco set-up seasoned Ratan Singh, then two minutes later Marcos Pereira set-up Yakubu Yusif but both chances were wasted. Fransa's Peter Rodrigues could have doubled the lead with a long-range effort in the 12.minute, but his shot sailed over the goal. It was Benjamin Ansah again with his letal left foot in the 20.minute to double the lead for Fransa with a shot from over 20 metres out. Thereafter it was Churchill who tried until the end of the match to get on the scoreboard, while Fransa pulled a bit back. In the 33.minute a Yakubu corner brought danger to the Fransa goal where AS Firoze cleared the ball of the goalline against his former club. A private duell between Fransa keeper Rajat Guha and Churchill's Ghanian striker Yakubu developed, which the keeper clearly won not allowing Yakubu to score of his numerous chances. Late in the match Joseph Ogor could have enhanced the lead for Fransa with two good chances. Fransa had to replace an injured Rajat Guha a few minutes from time with Kalyan Chaubey and a minute from time Churchill got their goal. Substitute Vanlal Rova's cross was headed into the Fransa goal by Brazilian Marcos Pereira. But that wasn't enough for Churchill to get at least a point in their relegation fight.
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Benjamin Owusu Ansah (Fransa).

2.Division National League - Agartala - Qualifiers Group I: Rail Coach Factory 2-2 Manipur Police SC - Goals: 1-0 Kamaljit Singh (22'), 1-1 I Nilakumar Singh (32'), 1-2 H Rohen Singh (45'), 2-2 ? (68').
2.Division National League - Siliguri - Qualifiers Group II: EverReady SA 11-2 Uttar Pradesh Police
2.Division National League - Chennai - Qualifiers Group IV: Madras Sporting Union 8-1 Young Challengers - Goals: 1-0,4-0,6-0 Venkatesan (1',3?',4?'), 2-0,8-1 Pradeep Kumar (16',90+3'), 3-0 Bharath (30'), 5-0 Cleetus (40'), 6-1 Balaguru (56'), 7-1 Venkatesh (90+2').

Note-1: Tomorrow it is the Round 4 in the group stage of the AFC Cup and for the Indian representatives it will be a mere face-saving act, except they launch a miraculous recovery in their groups tomorrow. The Indian champions East Bengal Club and the Federation Cup winners Dempo SC once again face Jordanian club opposition.
East Bengal Club host Jordanian league and cup champions Al-Faysali at the Saltlake Stadium, while Dempo SC have travelled to Irbit City in Jordan to face Al-Hussein, the Jordanian runners-up in league anc cup. And after the trashing both sides had to face two weeks ago against the same opposition, the aim will be to get a more positive result.
In Calcutta the early 15.30 kickoff should be helpful to East Bengal against Al-Faysali, who had trashed the red-and.gold 5-0 at home. But all it's well at East Bengal as some players are injured like Habibur Rehman Mondal and some others urgently need a break like Baichung Bhutia and Alvito D'Cunha. And if coach Subhas Bhowmick has his way, the duo will sit out to recharge batteries ahead of the Calcutta derby against archrivals Mohun Bagan on Sunday and the fight to defend the NFL title. Also if Muttath Suresh and Debjit Ghosh would be risked after returning from injury ahead of the Bagan clash will have to be seen. The AFC Cup seems to have taken a backseat in Bhowmick's plans with the club not doing too well unlike last season. Al-Faysali arrived in Calcutta yesterday, and the heat and humidity are a topic for the Arabians like for many opponents at this time of year. Al-Faysali had to leave back four of their key players, but still are strong enough to win away, so the Indian champions need to show what they are made off on the continental platform. The Jordanians have flown in to win, while East Bengal want to avoid humiliation.
Dempo SC meanwhile arrived in Irbit City, north of the Jordanian capital Amman, on Sunday. And Al-Hussein are said to be perfect hosts for the Goans, who are without suspended Nacimento Silveira and also coach Armando Colaco, who is still not fully fit. Once again former Indian international Mauricio Afonso will take charge as stand-in coach. Al-Hussein are taking Dempo seriously and want to be fully prepared to keep the three points in Jordan and move further clear in the group. Dempo will meanwhile take a wait-and-watch approach, not to run into counter-attacks early on.

18. April
IndianFootball.Com has relaunched a completely revamped FIFA World Cup section to cover world sports most prestigious and biggest event next year to be played in Germany.
Our Special section "India's Passage to Germany" sadly had ended with the Indian national teams exit from the qualifiers, but as IndianFootball.Com's two Editors-in-Chief are based in Germany, we will bring you extensive coverage from the 2005 Confederations Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup with our very own Indian perspective.
But still if you want to see how our Indian national team faired in the World Cup qualifiers, the section contains the most detailed infos on the web about the Indian campaign against Japan, Oman and Singapore.
Click here for the revamped >>IndianFootball.Com 2006 World Cup Special

AFC U17 Women's Championships - Group A: INDIA U17 0-7 South Korea U17 - Goals: 0-1,0-3 Hah Nul Kwon (28',37'), 0-2,0-5 Ji Young Park (35',52'), 0-4 Ga Eul Jeon (45'), 0-6 So Hyun Cho (74'), 0-7 Ye Eun Lee (79').
The INDIA U17 Girls' suffered a 0-7 defeat at the hand of the hosts South Korea in Group A of the AFC U17 Women's Championships at the Sports Park, Namhae island. The Indian girls were able to keep a cleansheet until the 28.minute against the mighty opponents infront of their 2.000 home fans as it was mainly one-way traffic towards the Indian goal.
INDIA U17: 1-Wangkhem Devi, 2-Alochana Senapati, 17-Suganya Raju (51' 3-Romi Ashem), 4-Ranjita Thangjam, 12-Suprava Samal, 6-Chanu Chingtham, 11-Sasmita Malik (49' 5-Tuli Goon), 8-Lalvarmoi Hmar, 9-Maibam Devi, 7-Sapna Guria, 10-Bala Ngangom.
Yellow Card: 3-Romi Ashem (78').

9th National League - Calicut: State Bank of Travancore 1-2 Mahindra United - Goals: 0-1 Jatin Singh Bisht (57'), 0-2 Abhishek Yadav (61'), 1-2 AG Mohammed Aslam (90+2').
Promoted State Bank of Travancore lost 1-2 at home against Mumbai giants Mahindra United in a 9th National League match at the Municipal Corporation Stadium, Calicut. SBT's fight for survival in the NFL suffered another setback as they crashed back to the bottom of the league with only 13 points from 18 matches, while Mahindra United moved into fourth position with 28 points.
The match showed why Mahindra are a top team in the Indian league, while SBT are likely to get relegated. SBT once again created a number of scoring chances, but wasted all of them except one late in injury time; while Mahindra played efficient football to take the three points home to Mumbai.
The SBT attack upfront of Abdul Hakkim, Anil Kumar and Asif Saheer created a lot of problems to the Mahindra defence, but they just couldn't score. The two best chances for the Bankmen came of winger NP Pradeep in the 22. and 27.minute, but Pradeep was denied by keeper Sandip Nandy, while seasoned Sylvester Ignatius' shot went wide in the 32.minute. Mahindra meanwhile in the first half and the first few minutes of the second half as well were happy to bother SBT keeper Jean Christian once-in-a-while with a long-ranger. But things changed in the 57.minute after a corner for Mahindra, the danger seemed averted when an oppurtunistic Jatin Singh Bisht scored with a volley. The very next minute NP Pradeep could have equalised off a freekick, but the ball came back into play off the crossbar, only for Mahindra to double their lead in the 61.minute. Brazilian Flavio Rodrigues, later named "Man of the Match", fed Indian international striker Abhishek Yadav with a cross from the right, Abhishek dribbled his way past a few SBT defenders and then scored past the SBT keeper. SBT was once again beaten and only got a consolation goal in injury time of substitute AG Mohammed Aslam.
SBT: Jean Christian, Paul Antony, NP Pradeep, M Lanel Thomas, KS Joby, Sylvester Ignatius, Martyn John, TV Mohammed Harris, MA Abdul Hakkim, S Anil Kumar, T Asif Saheer.
MAHINDRA: Sandip Nandy, Covan Lawrence, Mahesh Gawli, Peter Siddique, Manju Nanjangud Shivananju, Debabrata Roy, Shanmugam Venkatesh, Jatin Singh Bisht, Rodrigo Marcos Marques da Silva, Flavio de Oliveira Rodrigues, Abhishek Yadav.
REFEREE: Benjamin D'Silva (Goa).
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Flavio de Oliveira Rodrigues (Mahindra).

9th National League - Goa: Vasco SC 1-1 Mohun Bagan AC - Goals: 0-1 Roberto Mendes Silva (68'), 1-1 Levy Coelho (90+').
In a relegation-fighting match-up in Round 18 of the 9th National League Goans Vasco SC needed an injury time equaliser to hold former champions Mohun Bagan AC to a one-all draw at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. After having both played 18 matches, Mohun Bagan remain outside the relegation zone in eighth place with now 18 points, while Vasco move off the bottom of the league into 11th spot with 14 points. The fight for survival in the NFL continues for both sides in the upcoming last four matches.
The first half was a fight for midfield control with very few chances for any side. Mohun Bagan had the first look at goal when a Tomba Singh cross was shot goalwards by Dharamjit Singh with Vasco keeper Virender Singh collecting the ball. Vasco had chances through midfielders K Anees and Sushanth Mathew.
The match got better in the second half with more goalmouth action with both sides risking more. It was especially Vasco who tried to take the lead. The Goans had a good chance in the 65.minute when young Francis Fernandes set-up Brazilian striker Fabio Soares, but his shot was too weak to bother Subrata Pal in the Mohun Bagan goal. It was surprisingly Mohun Bagan who then took the lead in the 68.minute. Substitute Jerry Zirsanga send in a cross from the right to Brazilian striker Roberto Mendes Silva but his shot was saved by keeper Virender Singh, but Roberto scored of the rebound as Virender couldn't hold on to the goal or clear it. From then onwards it was one way traffic. Vasco wanted to at least take one point from the match as otherwise their chances of survival in the NFL would diminish further. But it seemed like Subrata Pal in the Bagan goal would hinder Vasco from achieving that with some outstanding saves. But Vasco were to get their equaliser. Into injury time Brazilian Sidney Santana Rodrigues took a corner for Vasco, Subrata tried to punch the ball out of danger, but the ball carried only as far as Vasco substitute striker Levy Coelho, who headed the ball into the net of a Bagan defenders deflection.
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Mehtab Hussein (Mohun Bagan).

2.Division National League - Cuttack - Qualifiers Group III: SAI Centre, Orissa 1-0 Sports College FC - Goal: Ram Chandra Murmu (32').

Note-1: The discussions and outburst by certain people on the poor and biased refereeing in the ongoing 9th National League has reached the ears of the AIFF president Das Munshi. Now the president is said to have called for a referees' committee meeting to discuss the allegations made against the match officials. The criticism has been especially harsh from the Calcutta clubs over the last few days with earlier criticism from other clubs as well.

Note-2: India captain Baichung Bhutia was approached by the Meghalaya FA and the state government to help them to set-up a football academy in the state while he was in the state capital Shillong last month as brand ambassador for one of his sponsors.
Baichung said he would help, if he had the time between his other commitments, mainly playing for his club and he would study the proposal for a football academy. The MFA hoped to get Baichung's professional advice to make the academy a success.

Note-3: The All-Manipur FA Football Development Programme for Under-12 and U14 years for boys and girls of Imphal East and West districts will be held from April 26.
Manipur is also to set to be a benificiary of the Vision India programme. Under the proposal two mini stadiums would be set-up in the state for grooming youngsters at the grassroot level.

17. April
2.Division National League - Siliguri - Qualifiers Group II: Jammu&Kashmir Bank 5-0 Uttar Pradesh Police - Goals: 1-0 Imran Rafiq (35'), 2-0 Shahnaz Iqbal Khan (40'), 3-0,5-0 Rizwan Sheikh (55',62'), 4-0 Amritpal Singh (58').
2.Division National League - Cuttack - Qualifiers Group III: Bengal Mumbai FC 1-1 Indian Air Force, Delhi - Goals: 1-0 Tiken Singh (38'), 1-1 Hossain Ska (75').
2.Division National League - Chennai - Qualifiers Group IV: Titanium XI 7-0 Young Challengers, Pondicherry - Goals: 1-0 Abdul Hameed (14'), 2-0,4-0 Ebin Rose (23',43'), 3-0 T Usman (25'), 5-0,6-0 Shajahan (66',73'), 7-0 Sajan Louis (89').

2nd Tiddim Trophy, Imphal - Final: Southern Sporting Union 1-1,0-0,4-1 NEROCA [penalties] - Goals: 1-0 Banny Chiru (21'), 1-1 H Amar (22').

Note-1: We at IndianFootball.Com are always working to help with development of football in India, especially in youth football.
Through our private contacts Brussels-based 360° Foot founder and general manager Philippe de Ridder, a former Belgian footballer, is flying down today to Calcutta to conduct a coaching camp for the IFA Academy boys in Haldia and hold a day-long coaching seminar for coaches from April 19 to 28.
360° Foot is organising a World Tour to take their Creative Football Training method around the world. India was part of the original plans and we approached a few entities in India interested to host the 360° Foot team. The Indian Football Association was directly interested and are now the benificiary of Philippe's visit. The trip was now organised in a short space of time as the original dates had been set for early-June and two to three coaches to make the trip, but now Calcutta is part of a southeast Asia leg, which will take only Philippe from Calcutta to Bangkok after his stay in the "City of Joy".
Before leaving Europe Philippe told IndianFootball.Com, "I am looking forward to fly to Calcutta and work with the boys. I will give them a piece of the Creative Football Training method and offensive football, my speciality."
We wish Philippe all the best and hopefully the boys enjoy working with Philippe, who is surely a demanding coach, so some hard working days are ahead for the Academy boys.

Note-2: Amid different sounding reports, Derrick Pereira is back at Vasco SC to coach the team for the next three of the five remaining matches. Derrick who had taken Vasco into the Premier Division in 1999/2000 had taken leave ahead of the SBT, where the team had been coached by Mathew D'Costa. Now Derrick is back for the Bagan match as he was at the teams training session today.
Derrick is unable to coach Vasco in their likely last two crucial NFL matches in May as he is away in Kuala Lumpur to attend an AFC coaching course from May 2 to 22.

Note-3: At a press conference in the Goan capital Panaji today, the Goa FA announced a partnership with Air-India to provide support to the various programmes of the association. Air-India would provide support the GFA's Youth Development Programme under its 'Reaching Out Project', which endeavoured to promote responsible and active citizenship. The sponsorship is worth Rs 400,000 in the first year.
Present on the occasion where the GFA secretary Savio Messias; Youth Development Committee chairman Jose Anthony Botelho; and Air India (Goa Region) Manager Mario Saldanha.
Mr Messias said that GFA had launched an ambitious youth development programme with the sole objective of spotting talent at a young age so as to prepare them for future duty for Goa and eventually India and entered into a partnership with AI. He added the association would further help in honing the skills of the budding footballers so that they could develop as full-fledged professional players.
Air-India would further sponsor the state's under-14, under-16 and under-18 football championships to be organised by GFA in the third week of April, May 1st week and Janaury 2006 respectively.
Mr Messias further informed that the state under-14 championship, which will kick off from tomorrow, had attracted a record number of 22 teams.

Note-4: The 4th IFA-organised Football Bazar was held from April 8 to 14 at the Saltlake SAI football grounds. The event was inaugurated by the IFA secretary Subrata Dutta with more than 200 footballers from across West Bengal participating and between 70 to 80 players have been chosen by football clubs of the Calcutta Football League to play for them in the 2005 league.

16. April
AFC U17 Women's Championships - Group A: INDIA U17 4-6 Thailand U17 - Goals: 0-1,4-5,4-6 Pitsamai Sornsai (6',71',76'), 0-2 Chidtawan Chawong (13'), 0-3 Prangthip Nampeng (17'), 1-3,2-3,4-3 Bala Ngangom (40+',41',51'), 3-3 Suganya Raju (46'), 4-4 Sukunya Peangthem (65').
The INDIA U17 Girls' lost their opening match of the AFC U17 Women's Championships in a thriller 4-6 against Thailand at the Sports Park, Namhae island in South Korea. The 1.000 spectators at the ground nearly saw a spectacular turnaround by the Indian girls who were down by three goals in the first 17 minutes against a Thai team who made a swift start. India coach Ratan Kumar Singh made some early substitutions to strengthen the defence and it seemed to payoff as INDIA pulled one back before the breather in injury time through star striker Bala Ngangom. After the break the next 40 minutes (a junior women's match is played for 80 minutes) would be an only up and down affair. In the second half the Indian girls made a fast start as Bala scored a brace and another goal came from substitute Suganya Raju to suddenly put the Indian girls up 4-3 in the 51.minute. For the next 14 minutes it looked like our girls would pulloff a stunning turnaround, but the Thai's then hit back with three goals in 11 minutes to win the match 6-4, a rather Tennis-like score. The resurgence should surely make the coach proud, but that the team carved-in in the end will surely leave some questions.
INDIA U17: 1-Wangkhem Devi, 2-Alochana Senapati (25' 15-Manpreet Kaur), 3-Romi Ashem (38' 17-Suganya Raju; 78' 14-Sangita Patra), 4-Ranjita Thangjam, 5-Tuli Goon, 12-Suprava Samal, 6-Chanu Chingtham, 8-Lalvarmoi Hmar, 9-Maibam Devi, 7-Sapna Guria, 10-Bala Ngangom.

2.Division National League - Siliguri - Qualifiers Group II: EverReady SA 6-1 Azad SC
2.Division National League - Chennai - Qualifiers Group IV: Madras Sporting Union 1-1 Karnataka State Police - Goals: 0-1 Sameer Ahmed (49'), 1-1 Johny (55').

Note-1: The AIFF technical committee met yesterday under the chairmanship of it's president Das Munshi to discuss issues related to the national team.
Top of the agenda was the national team tour to Pakistan in June. The AIFF has received an initiary from the Pakistani counterparts for a tour from June 10 to 20, which was discussed. It was also discussed which team would be send to Pakistan. As senior players are busy until end-May with the National League and need a break before the new season started, the AIFF might opt to send a second string side made-up of junior players. The tour would then be used for exposure for the juniors.
Sukhwinder Singh would likely accompany the team as coach and Bhramanand Shankwalkar would like be named goalkeeping coach.
It was also decided that Aloke Mukherjee would continue as the INDIA U20 coach with Hemanta Dora to be approached to take-over as goalkeeping coach.

Note-2: This could be a tricky issue that East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick touched-on this time around while talking to media in Calcutta today. And it could cause a lot of bad blood between Bengal and Goa.
Bhowmick hit out at AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco for being as he termed it "parochial" and that the AIFF secretary from Goa not liking Calcutta sides to be in the National League. He went on to say that Colaco&co are trying all they can to ensure that East Bengal do not win the NFL title and that Mohun Bagan are relegated from the NFL. Poor and partial refereeing were behind Bagan having to fight relegation, and it would be a great setup if Bagan got relegated Bhowmick added.
Bhowmick would now write a letter to the AIFF president Das Munshi to form a task force to assess the NFL referring, which has come into criticism from a number of different quarters over the last three month's.
In Calcutta football insiders are saying, Tollygunge weren't mentioned, but what applies for Mohun Bagan also applies to them when it comes to refereeing.
One will have to see, if this outburst is ignored by the AIFF topbrass or if action is taken against Bhowmick, who has touched a sensative issue, but an issue which needs to be looked into, especially the referees will have to be assessed.

Note-3: Good news for Uttaranchal football as the state's participant in the 2.Division National League Sports College FC from Haldwani is finally taking part in the Group III qualifiers in Cuttack, Orissa. Group III has been the group with most uncertainties as two of the five participating clubs Sports College FC and Cabral SC from Goa had either a question mark besides their name or have pulled out as per local infos, but with the organising Orissa FA not having been intimidated. Now at least four teams are set to take part in the group, even if Cabral SC do not come.
Cabral SC's reason behind pulling out has been financial contraints for not being able to finance a trip across from the west to the east to Orissa along with other costs for the 2.Division.

Note-4: The twice postponed final of the 2nd Tiddim Trophy is set to be played tomorrow at 14.00 at the Khuman Lampak Main Stadium, Imphal between NEROCA and Southern Sporting Union.

15. April

9th National League - Calcutta: East Bengal Club 2-0 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Alvito D'Cunha (19',45+').
A brace by Alvito D'Cunha gave champions East Bengal Club a 2-0 win against Churchill Brothers SC in a 9th National League match at the floodlit Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. With today's win East Bengal moved back to the top of the current NFL standings with now 36 points from 17 matches, one point a head of rivals Sporting Clube de Goa and Dempo SC. Churchill Brothers SC meanwhile remain on relegation spot nine with 17 points from as many matches.
East Bengal Club clearly started the match with only one aim to forget the loss against Fransa a few days ago and bring their title defence back on track with three points tonight. Subhas Bhowmick rehabilitated Brazilian striker Juliano Martins who started the match after it was rumoured he would leave the club, but Juliano only played 35.minutes as he had to be taken off injured.
East Bengal made a usual quick start to put their Goan opponents under pressure with the Churchill Brothers defence soaking-up the initial attacks. But the Churchill goal fell in the 19.minute as Climax Lawrence send a pass to Sasthi Duley, who found Baichung Bhutia inside the box, who set-up Alvito D'Cunha who made no mistake to volley the ball into the net. Nigerian Earnest Jeremiah had a couple of chances for East Bengal to double the lead, but it would stay 1-0 until into the first half injury time, when once again Indian international Alvito D'Cunha scored. Jeremiah send Alvito free on the left and he made no mistake unleasing a left-footer which left Churchill keeper Reagan Alemao stranded.
After the break East Bengal didn't push too hard for a third goal which gave Churchill a chance to venture upfront, but the dangerous duo of Yakubu Yusif and Marcos Pereira just couldn't worry the East Bengal defence today. In the 80.minute Churchill Brothers were reduced to ten men when their Ghanian defender Osumanu Husseini received a red card after he brought down Baichung Bhutia, who had broken free and only had the goalkeeper to beat. Baichung himself picked-up a yellow card, which he surely would have liked to avoid as this means he would have to sit out the Calcutta derby against Mohun Bagan on April 24.
EAST BENGAL: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Surya Bikash Chakraborty (72' Gurpreet Singh), Habibur Rehman Mondal, Selwyn Fernandes, Muttath Suresh, Sasthi Duley, Climax Lawrence, Earnest Jeremiah (64' Sandip Das), Alvito D'Cunha, Baichung Bhutia, Juliano Martins (35' Bijen Singh).
CHURCHILL: Reagan Alemao, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury (47' Sanjay Parte), Satish Kumar Bharti, Osumanu Husseini, Mir Farooq Hyder, Sujay Dutta, Roque Barreto, Aqueel Ansari (82' Chitrasen Chandam Singh), Ratan Singh (59' Vanlal Rova), Marcos Pereira, Yusif Yakubu.
REFEREE: Saji Kurien (Kerala).
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Alvito D'Cunha (East Bengal).

9th National League - Ludhiana: JCT Mills 0-0 Fransa FC - Goals: none.
Former champions JCT Mills were held to a goalless draw by debutants Fransa FC in a 9th National League match at the Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana. With both team gaining a point today in Round 17, Fransa move back into fourth place with 26 points, while JCT moved back into sixth position with 23 points.
After a number of matches at home where the final result was negative, JCT wanted to win today's match. But the Phagwara Millmen were denied by the Goans defensive approach, which primarily focused on not allowing JCT too much space and too many chances upfront with a tight defence.
JCT had the first look at the goal around the middle of the first half, when a Jaswinder Singh cross was trapped by Manjit Singh, who lobbed in the ball in the box where Nigerian striker Alexander Jebba tried a back-volley but Kalyan Chaubey in the Fransa goal denied them the goal. Fransa had their best chance in the first half of a volley from the edge of the area by midfielder Peter Rodrigues. JCt had another good chance just before the breather as Manjit tried to backheel the ball of a Ram Pal corner.
JCT brought on teenager Sakatar Singh in the second half for Alexander Jebba and the youngster combined well with Jaswinder and Sukhjinder. Fransa relied more and more on counter-attacks. The best chance coming off a long-ranger from midfielder Hardip Singh Saini, a former JCT player. Thereafter it was JCT who had a number of chances to score the winner. First Sukhjinder headed a Ram Pal corner over the crossbar; Sakatar then was ruled offside in a move where he had beaten the keeper; then defender Julius Akpele shot high over the crossbar and then finally it was again "Man of the Match" Manjit whose brilliant shot from the edge of the area was cleared by Kalyan Chaubey in the Fransa goal.
JCT: Mansuru Mohammed, Daljit Singh, Julius Irabor Akpele, Harpreet Singh, KV Dhanesh, Jaswinder Singh, Sukhjinder Singh, Ram Pal (Hardip Singh Gill), Manjit Singh, Harvinder Singh, Alexander Jebba (Sakatar Singh).
FRANSA: Kalyan Chaubey, Sanjeev Kumar Maria, Anbalath Suliman Firoze, Louis Aniweta, Cressan Antao, Peter Rodrigues, Jules Alberto Dias, Hardip Singh Saini, Santa Saikhom Singh, Joseph Toochukwu Ogor, Sebastiao Endro.
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Manjit Singh (JCT).

9th National League - Goa: Sporting Clube de Goa 1-0 Mohun Bagan AC - Goal: 1-0 MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (76').
Captain MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi gave Sporting Clube de Goa a 1-0 victory against former champions Mohun Bagan AC in the 9th National League at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. With today's win Sporting Clube moved into second spot on 35 points from 17 matches, one behind new leaders East Bengal and ahead of Dempo SC on goal difference. For Mohun Bagan the eight loss in 17 matches meant that the Calcutta giants remain on 17 points from as many matches, only out of the relegation spots due to a three goal better goal difference of Churchill Brothers.
Mohun Bagan coach Amal Datta once again took a defensive approach for his team away from Calcutta. Still the defence left enough gaps for Sporting Clube to get through, but Bagan keeper Subrata Pal was there to avert danger on numerous occasions. Sporting Clube had their first chance in the 20.minute when Rajesh Meetei and Joseph Pereira set-up Dudu but he shot over. Five minutes later Sporting Clube could have had another good chance as Vincent Pires crossed the ball to Bibiano Fernandes, but Bagan's Brazilian defender Eduardo Chacon made a timely clearance. On the half hour mark Dudu unleashed a pile driver which Subrata grabbed in a second attempt. Bagan could have gone ahead in the 38.minute when a Mehtab Hussein shot hit the crossbar but the ball came back into play off a Jerry Zirsanga pass.
Sporting Clube continued were they had left-off in the first half to try and score a goal. In the 51.minute Bibiano Fernandes set-up Joseph Pereira but his shot went wide. Bagan could have gone ahead thereafter off a counter-attack when Tomba Singh set-up Jerry Zirsanga but his shot was saved by Sporting Clube keeper Luis Barreto. Sporting Clube went ahead in the 76.minute of a goal from captain Dudu, who once more gave his club a win and he remained top scorer of the NFL with now 14 goals. The goal came about as Adebayo Adewusi broke free on the right flank, essayed a pass to Dudu who got rid of his marker Eduardo before scoring into the far corner.
ONGC Man of the Match Award: MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (Sporting Clube).

Note-1: Tollygunge Agragami secretary Mantoo Ghosh has send a letter to the AIFF secretary and a copy to the president Das Munshi to protest in the name of his club against the poor refereeing. Ghosh see's his club at the receiving end of those decisions, which went against them and not only that but also to the two other Calcutta clubs East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.

14. April
9th National League - Calcutta: Tollygunge Agragami 1-2 Salgaocar SC - Goals: 0-1,1-2 Felix Ibrebru (59',77'), 1-1 Akeem Abul Alem (70').
Former champions Salgaocar SC scored an important 2-1 away victory against Tollygunge Agragami in the 9th National League at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. For Salgaocar the three points in Calcutta today nearly mean the club has ensured it's NFL future after some anxious weeks with now 22 points from 17 matches and they moved into sixth spot. For Tollygunge meanwhile today's loss could be costly as they remain on 15 points also from 17 matches and in 10th place, currently a relegation spot.
Since their entrance into the NFL Tollygunge Agragami, the small Moore Avenue club from south Calcutta, has been fighting relegation as the league's dark horses. Somehow they have always survived, but after another loss today the chances are getting less and less with four teams set to go down this year, even though the first non-relegation spot eighth is only a couple of points away, but they have the worst goal difference of this NFL.
Tollygunge put together a much better display than a few days ago against Churchill Brothers, another Goan side with the return of Isiaka Awoyemi giving stability to the defence. Tollygunge took their usual defensive approach while Salgaocar once in a while tried their luck upfront with Nigerian striker Felix Ibrebru twice and midfielder Bhuvan Krishna Joshi once wasting a good chance.
Things changed after the break as Salgaocar's attacks gained in precision. One such attack gave the green-and-white the lead in the 60.minute, when a Jerose Oliveira cross from the right reached Felix and the Nigerian made no mistake to score. But Tollygunge hit back in the 70.minute when Akeem Abul Alem scored off a Chinmoy Sarkar pass. It was Akeem's only second goal in this NFL, showing one of Tollygunge's main problems. A one-all draw would have been fine for the Moore Avenue club, but the referee had other ideas one clearly has to say. Referee A Arjunan penalised Saumik Dey for an unintentional push on Bhuvan Krishna Joshi in the box with a penalty for Salgaocar in the 77.minute. Felix scored the penalty to give Salgacar the win, while Tollygunge protested against the unlucky decision of the referee.
TOLLYGUNGE: Sudip Sarkar, Kabijit Khotel, Isiaka Awoyemi, Debkumar Sashmal, Saumik Dey, Santosh Singh, Suley Musah, Nilavo Chakraborty (22' Gouranga Dutta, 67' Ramu Adhikary), Chinmoy Sarkar (74' Tarif Ahmed), Surajit Bose, Akeem Abul Alem.
SALGAOCAR: Juje Siddi, Remus Gomes, Prashant Jaggi, John Charles Dias, Bello Rasaq, Jerose Oliviera (68' Freddy Mascarenhas), Rocus Lamare (81' Samson Singh), Bhuvan Krishna Joshi, Francis Andrade (50' A Jyothi Kumar), Fabio dos Passos, Felix Ibrebru.
REFEREE: A Arjunan (Services).
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Fabio dos Passos (Salgaocar).

9th National League - Goa: Dempo SC 0-0 Mahindra United - Goals: none.
Federation Cup champions and league leaders Dempo SC were held to a goalless draw by Mumbai giants Mahindra United in the 9th National League at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. Dempo remain ahead of their rivals East Bengal Club and Sporting Clube de Goa with 35 points from 17 matches, but as the other two sides have played a match less they could move past Dempo in the table. Mahindra meanwhile now have 25 points and moved into fourth position behind the leading trio.
Dempo clearly missed a big chance to move clear at the top of the NFL standings with the goalless draw against Mahindra United. The chances were there but RC Prakash and stand-in striker Ishfaq Ahmed just couldn't score, especially Ishfaq was the culprit on the afternoon, missing numerous good chances. Dempo sorely missed their Nigerian striker Ranty Martins Soleye, who had to sit out due to a double booking. The team also missed their coach Armando Colaco who wasn't feeling well, so assistant coach Mauricio Afonso, a former Indian international, took charge.
In the first half the action was mainly confined to the midfield with both teams looking to gain possession. Dempo's attack once again had an excellent build-up with "Man of the Match" Clifford Miranda being the key provider for the strikers. The first good chance was set-up by Clifford in the 23.minute when he broke free on the left, crossed the ball into the middle, where Ishfaq shot the ball wide. Mahindra had their only real chance of the first half in the 32.minute when Steven Dias moved-up on the right flank to send a cross to Brazilian striker Flavio Rodrigues, but he couldn't utilise the chance shooting the ball over the crossbar infront of only keeper Satish Kumar. Dempo could have gone into the lemon break with the lead through an injury time goal from RC Prakash but he was denied by alert Mahindra keeper Sandip Nandy after Prakash received a long ball from Majekodumni Bolaji.
After the breather Dempo raised their level of play with a more organised approach. Dempo controlled proceedings and it looked only a question of time until when they would take the lead. The midfield worked tirelessly, but Prakash and Ishfaq just wouldn't score. Stand-in coach Mauricio even brought on Sri Lankan striker Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya for Ishfaq but also that ploy didn't bring the desired result. Dempo had to actually watch out late in the match as Mahindra did get some chances to clinch the match late, but Marcos and substitute Abhishek Yadav were denied by keeper Satish Kumar or shot wide.
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Clifford Miranda (Dempo).

Note-1: The cities of Chennai and Jamshedpur will be hosting the six-team Group A and B of the Phase I of the 2.Division National League starting in the first week of May.
Group A will be played at the Nehru Stadium in the Tamil Nadu capital Chennai which would contain local side Indian Bank; Air-India, Mumbai; Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore; Border Security Force, Jalandhar and two qualifiers. Group B meanwhile would play at the JRD Tata Sports complex football stadium in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand with Tata Football Academy; Mohammedan Sporting Club, Calcutta; Punjab Police, Jalandhar; Hindustan Club, Delhi and two qualifiers.
The four group qualifiers would start from April 16 with the groups being played at Agartala, Siliguri, Cuttack and Chennai.
The Orissa FA organising committee secretary Asirbad Behera today held a press conference in Cuttack to inform that the Barabati Stadium would host the five team qualifier group. The matches would be held under floodlights due to the current hot and humid weather in Cuttack. But interestingly with matches to start in a couple of days, the OFA seemed totally unaware that Goa's Cabral SC and Sports College FC from Uttaranchal could or already have pulled out.
For the >>2.Division National League 2004/05 - Stats

Note-2: Thrissur, the home town of IM Vijayan, is set to become the centre of Kerala football in the coming weeks. Not for the NFL that honour has gone to Calicut, but for Kerala state tournaments.
First the Kerala State Inter-Club Championships would be held from April 24 to May 6 with 18 teams taking part. Besides the 14 Kerala district champions four teams - Viva Kerala, Cochin Port Trust, Central Excise, Thrissur District Police - have been given special entry.
Then the Kerala State League would be held from May 10. But the number and name of participating teams would be finalised only on April 21 at the KFA central council meeting in Kochi. Amongst other things it would have to be taken into account, if Kerala's lone entrant in the 2.Division NFL Titanium XI would be available or not.

13. April
9th National League - Calicut: State Bank of Travancore 4-1 Vasco SC - Goals: 1-0 NP Pradeep (29'), 1-1 Sidney Santana Rodrigues (62'), 2-1 M Mohammed Rafi (70'), 3-1 S Anil Kumar (83'), 4-1 T Asif Saheer (89').
Promoted State Bank of Travancore scored a morale-boasting 4-1 victory against Vasco SC in a bottom of the table clash in the 9th National League at the Municipal Corporation Stadium, Calicut. After today's match the two sides remain bottom of the league with both having 13 points from 17 matches, only that SBT moved past Vasco into 11th spot due to a one goal better goal difference.
For Kerala's lone entrant into the 9th NFL it was their first win in two month's, a vital one as such as the team are now four points behind a non-relegation place. For Goa's only people's club as Vasco is known it was a defeat they would have liked to avoid. They are also four points behind, but their performances lately do not show that the team can stay in the NFL, even if many fans hope so.
SBT started as usual - loads of attacks using their wings and the speed of the team to cause problems for the Vasco defence. After a foul on a SBT midfielder, junior international NP Pradeep walked-up to take the freekick over 20 metres out. Pradeep's well-taken freekick landed in the nets and gave his team the 1-0 lead in the 29.minute. It remained so until the breather.
After the break it seemed like history would repeat itself once again. SBT in control of proceedings conceeded a penalty when defender Paul Antony fouled K Anees. Brazilian Sidney Santana Rodrigues walked up to the spot and gave Vasco the equaliser in the 62.minute. Bit today SBT wanted to win and they scored three more goals in the last 20 minutes to ensure victory all set-up by "Man of the Match" Abdul Hakkim. First Hakkim set-up Mohammed Rafi to shot SBT back into the lead in the 70.minute, then Hakkim receiving a pass from Pradeep played a high ball into the centre which substitute Anil Kumar headed into the goal in the 83.minute and a minute from time hardworking Asif Saheer scored a deserving goal also off Hakkim.
SBT: Jean Christian, M Abdul Basheer, Paul Antony, M Lanel Thomas, NP Pradeep, KM Abdul Naushad, TV Mohammed Harris, Sylvester Ignatius, MA Abdul Hakkim, M Mohammed Rafi, T Asif Saheer.
VASCO: Virender Singh, Samson Fernandes, Agnelo Colaco, Vinu Jose, Surijit Roy, K Anees, Sushanth Mathew, Sidney Santana Rodrigues, Krishnan Nair Ajayan, K Anees, Alex Ambrose.
REFEREE: Pradeep Kumar (Tamil Nadu).
ONGC Man of the Match Award: MA Abdul Hakkim (SBT).

Note-1: Haldwani-based Sports College FC might pull out of the 2.Division National League - Group III qualifiers to be played in Cuttack (Orissa) from April 16-25. Uttaranchal's lone entrant into the 2.Division is not certain of taking part due to the exams of the students are presently going on. Sports College FC is pitted against Cabral SC, SAI Centre (Orissa), Bengal Mumbai FC and the Indian Air Force.
It looks like this time Uttaranchal is likely to miss the NFL. But for next year, the Uttaranchal FA plans to conduct a tournament for champion clubs of different districts of the state and its winner will participate in the NFL. Surely a step forward for football in Uttaranchal, an area which has produced football talent in the past.

12. April
IndianFootball.Com Mumbai correspondent Sujay Sharma visited the Indian Youth Soccer Academy - Mumbai on a training day on March 27 to have a look at youth development work in Mumbai and report for us. Sujay thoroughly enjoyed himself and was impressed with what he saw. You can read about in our IndianFootball.Com LIVE section.
For the complete IYSA-Mumbai report to go >>IndianFootball.Com LIVE.

9th National League - Calcutta: East Bengal Club 0-1 Fransa FC - Goal: 0-1 Peter Rodrigues (87').
Champions East Bengal Club suffered a lone goal defeat against debutants Fransa FC in a 9th National League match at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. It was the second home defeat against a visiting Goan side for East Bengal in a row, while Fransa now have beaten both Maidan giants away. East Bengal remain on 33 points from 16 matches, now have lost their top spot to rivals Dempo SC, who are ahead by a point; while Fransa moved into fourth position with 25 points from the same number of matches.
East Bengal looked a tired lot today after their AFC Cup trip to Amman last week, while Goans Fransa were content with defending, but when they got a chance to score the winner late in the match they utilised their chance to inflict an unwanted defeat on the defending champions.
East Bengal had more of the attacks, while Fransa relied on counter-attacks. The red-and-gold's best chance of the first half came in the 26.minute when a Chandan Das shot was blocked on the goalline by Hardip Singh Saini. Fransa midfielder Biju Kumar took a short in the 32.minute which went wide, while in injury time of the first half Fransa keeper Kalyan Chaubey saved an Alvito D'Cunha volley.
Just after the break the Fransa keeper was again in the thick of the action. This time Chaubey intercepted a lob from Earnest Jeremiah and it was again Chaubey would saved a Dipankar Roy shot in the 70.minute. Only a little while later once again Chaubey denied his former club a goal, this time substitute Bijen Singh being the culprit shooting the ball straight to the keeper. Fransa were then lucky in the 84.minute to get away without conceeding a penalty as it looked that Biju Kumar handled a Chandan Das volley in the box. And then disaster struck for East Bengal as Nigerian Joseph Ogor found hard-working midfielder Saini in the box and Saini cleverly placed the ball to his right for Peter Rodrigues to shot home past Rajat Ghosh Dastidar.
EAST BENGAL: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Syed Rahim Nabi, Debjit Ghosh, Selwyn Fernandes, Habibur Rehman Mondal, Shylo Malswam Tulunga (46' Bijen Singh), Climax Lawrence, Chandan Das, Alvito D'Cunha (62' Dipankar Roy), Subhas Chakraborty (26' Ernest Jeremiah), Baichung Bhutia.
FRANSA: Kalyan Chaubey, Ambalath Suliman Firoze, Sanjeev Kumar Maria, Louis Aniweta, Syed Hussein, Peter Rodrigues, Hardeep Singh Saini, Jules Alberto Dias, Benjamin Owusu Ansah, TV Biju Kumar, Joseph Toochukwu Ogor (90' Sebastiao Endro).
REFEREE: Walter Pereira (Maharashtra).
ONGC Man of the Match Award: Hardip Singh Saini (Fransa).

Note-1: The 9th National League Round 21 encounter Mahindra United vs. East Bengal, originally scheduled for May 5, has been preponed by a day, and will now be held on the May 4.

Note-2: The final 20 for Indian U17 Girls' national team for the first-ever AFC U17 Women's Championships have been named. Goalkeeper Thabal Devi from Manipur has been named captain of the team, which has an average age of 16 years. The India U17 Girls have been drawn in the tough Group A along with hosts South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.
The probables have been fighting for a place in the final 20 since January 14 at the SAI Southern Centre in Bangalore. The team leaves Bangalore on April 13 for Busan and make the trip via Mumbai and Tokyo. And the girls' play their first match on the opening day, April 16 against Thailand.
INDIA GIRLS' U17: GK: Wangkhem Thabal Devi (Saptain), Ahalaya Munda, Neelam Khalko. Defenders: Thangjem Ranjita Devi, Ashem Romi Devi, Tuli Goon, Alochona Senapati, Gulti Choudhary, Manpreet Kaur Sidhu, Suprava Sasmal. Midfielders: Maibam Bem Bem Devi, Chingtham Sanathoi Chanu, Lalvarmoi Hmar, Sasmita Malik, Manpreet Kaur, Suganya Raju. Forwards: Ngangom Bala Devi, Sapna Guria, Nameirakpam Roma Devi, Sangita Patra. Chief coach: M Ratan Kumar Singh (Manipur). Coach: Kuntala Ghosh Dasdidar (Bengal). Goalkeeping Coach: Chitra Jayaram Gangadharan (Karnataka). Physio: Pradeep Kumar Datta (Bengal). Manager: Renuka Lakshmi (Tamil Nadu). Doctor: Dr. Sarla (SAI - Bangalore).

Note-3: Former Assam state player Oheo Biswas died in Dibrugarh earlier today of a cardiac arrest. He was 71 and is survived by his wife, son and daughter. Biswas had represented Assam in five consecutive Santosh Trophy's from 1956 to 1960.

11. April
ONGC, the title sponsors of the 9th National League, are keen to sponsor more football tournament in Kerala if it is approached by the Kerala FA and the state government.
ONGC Public Relations Officer Preetesh Babu from New Delhi told reporters in Calicut, "Following the tremendous response we now receive for our sponsorship to the National Football League matches here, we are keen to promote the sport in a bigger way if the right approach comes from the bodies-concerned."
ONGC have tied-up with the AIFF and are title sponsors of the NFL with Rs 70 million. Elsewhere ONGC hasn't been happy the way the local organisers have treated their sponsorship package with infringements being the case. Especially in Calcutta there has been controversy over the last few weeks.

10. April
IndianFootball.Com, the Premier Website on Indian football, celebrates its 7th anniversary today!
India's oldest football website was launched on April 10, 1998 and today completes seven years in service for you, our site's visitors and users.

The first-ever IndianFootball.Com Club Ranking is now officially online for you all to view!
The top spot in the IFC Club Ranking belongs to Indian champions East Bengal Club. A distant second are their Calcutta rivals Mohun Bagan AC, closely followed by Mahindra United, Salgaocar SC and Dempo SC.
Click here for the complete >>IndianFootball.Com club ranking

9th National League - Calcutta: Tollygunge Agragami 2-4 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: 0-1,0-2 Yakubu Yusif (7',44'), 0-3,2-4 Marcos Pereira (52',89'), 1-3 Saumik Dey (56'), 2-3 Tarif Ahmed (83').
In a match to fight against relegation Calcutta's Tollygunge Agragami lost a thriller 2-4 against Churchill Brothers SC from Goa in the 9th National League at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. After Round 16 the two clubs switched positions in the table, but both stay in the relegation zone. W