L Stegin’s brace revived AGORC’s title bid, as they beat Arrows 3-2 in the St Joseph’s-CFA Senior Division League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday. The win took them to second spot in the championship, with only Southern Railway ahead of them.
Though Arrows showed initial promise and dictated the opening phase of the contest, their tempo regressed as the game progressed, chiefly worn down by AGORGC’s stolid defence. And on the few occasions they did manage to breach the defence, they couldn’t make a decisive impact, as either they shot feebly or straight to the goalkeeper S Alexander.
Conversely, AGORC took time to settle down, but began to dominate the midfield as they were allowed with pockets of space. Stegin’s goal exemplified their midfield coordination, though luck did play a part. His intention was to provide Vinoth Kumar with the ball, but it went goal-bound and the wrong-footed goalkeeper could only fingertip the ball to the far corner of the post.
Unfazed, Arrows continued on the attack mode and came close to equalising in the dying minutes of the first half. Morgan Justice rounded off the onrushing goalkeeper and placed the ball into the vacant goal only to be intervened by centre back Naveen Kumar, whose sliding effort kept their lead intact at half time.
But the match sprung into life when substitute P Arun was wary enough to latch onto the rebound after Alexander had expertly thwarted a low shot by Morgan Justice. But given Arrows’ defensive fallibility, the scoreline looked insecure and seven minutes later they conceded a penalty — Santa Roy felled Vinoth Kumar — which seasoned striker P Muthu converted.
Eight minutes later, Stegin fetched his second. An unmarked Stegin at the far post had all the time in the world to place the ball upon receiving it from the opposite flank, and was duly despatched home with an artful volley. Though Arohizundu Joel reduced the lead in the 81st minute, AGORC’s defence guaranteed them full points. Earlier, the RPF-SAI match in the First Division League ended in a goalless draw.
Chennai Advance
Chennai beat Tirunelveli 6–0 in the quarterfinals of the CM Trophy hockey tournament.
Results (Quarterfinals): Madurai bt Thoothukudi 2–0; Trichy bt Dindigul 2–0; Nilagiri bt Namakkal 3–0; Chennai bt Tirunelveli 6–0.
Good Response For Chennai Marathon
About 6000 people will be seen in action in the Wipro-Chennai Marathon, powered by Chennai Runners, which will take place on December 2. United Way Chennai, the charity partnerm has contributed around 2000 runners, and more than 10 corporates in Chennai have registered as groups, including Wipro Technologies.
Total prize money is Rs 1.6 lakh. The first three winners of the full marathon will get Rs 25,000, 15,000, 10,000 and half marathon Rs 20,000, 15,000, 10,000. To encourage the spirit of marathons worldwide, Wipro Technologies will sponsor the participation of the winner of the full marathon in both the male and female category for ‘The Wipro San Francisco Marathon’ to be held on June 16, 2013 in San Francisco.
Around 5000 participants will run the 10 kms race inside the IIT. The events will be held in four categories: full marathon (42.2 kms), half marathon (21.1 kms), 10 kms and special children run.