Lack of finesse in front of opposition goal lets down Arrows…
Real Kashmir defeated Indian Arrows 2-0 in an I-League encounter at the Bambolim Stadium in Goa on Sunday afternoon, courtesy of goals from Mason Robertson (18′) and Gnohere Krizo (57′).
Arrows showed signs of promise but their finishing let them down on numerous occassions throughout the match. Whereas, Kashmir in spite of being second-best for the bulk of the match, managed to churn out a positive result making the most of their physicality and experience rather than quality.
Shanmugam Venkatesh made three changes to the side that went down 2-0 to TRAU in the previous match. Samik Mitra was reinstated under the sticks, Manvir Singh also got back his starting berth whereas Nikhil Raj made his I-League debut. Rohit Danu also made a comeback from an ankle injury and featured for the first time in this season.
On the other hand, Real Kashmir head coach David Robertson also chose to make three alterations in a bid to return to winning ways after being beaten by NEROCA. Brian Mascernahas and Ritwik Kumar Das were asked to start from the first whistle to inject more pace on the flanks and Aaron Katebe slotted in as a centre back alongside Loveday Okechukwu.
If the visitors were dominating possession then Indian Arrows were depending on counter attacks to slice open Kashmir’s defence. The young cavalry even got a gilt-edged opportunity within the first five minutes when Ayush Adhikari released Manvir with a through ball. The striker dribbled past Phurba Lachenpa but lost his balance before he could fire a shot towards a gaping goal.
It was end-to-end football in the first quarter but the Snow Leopards sneaked ahead with the opener when Mason Robertson’s header flew in the top corner of the net. Mascarenhas floated an inch-perfect ball towards the far post for Robertson, and the Scottish striker jumped higher than his marker Akash Misra to score a perfect headed goal.
After falling behind Arrows showed some more urgency to get back into the game. They enjoyed more possession at the centre of the park but were struggling to create anything significant in the attacking third. The likes of Vikram Pratap, Manvir and Adhikari were letting fly from distance at regular intervals to at least test Lachenpa but their efforts lacked enough venom to beat the keeper.
In the 40th minute, the developmental side survived a scare when Gnohere Krizo brushed aside two defenders, Hendry Antonay and R Hormipam, and fired a shot at goal, only to hit the crosspiece. But they kept going and could have cut off the deficit just before the half-time break only if Vikram had kept his shot on target after he was set up by Ricky Shabong with a lobbed pass inside the box.
The blue cubs started the second half from where they let-off in the first. Bikash Yumnam was throwing in long balls inside the box and those parabolic deliveries were sending tremors in Kashmir’s defence.
In the 51st minute, Adhikari pulled the trigger from distance but Lachenpa responded with equal brilliance to acrobatically palm it away for a corner.
Against the run of play, Kashmir earned a penalty in the 55th minute when Bikash handed the ball inside the box. Krizo stepped up to shoot from 12 yards and the Ivorian sent Samik the wrong way before scoring the insurance goal for his team.
The goal handed the team from Srinagar a morale boost and a minute later, if Horimpam had not made a block to deny Krizo then he would have got his second in as many minutes.
Yet the home team was relentless in their pursuit to reduce the margin. They kept knocking on Kashmir’s goal and with Danu thrown in the mix they had more teeth in the attacking third. But Venkatesh’s boys lacked the skill and panache to convert the half-chances and beat a well-organized Kashmir defense.
This was their third straight defeat and they lie bottom of the table with just four points from eight matches. A tough challenge lies ahead of them as they are set to face East Bengal in their next match away from home comforts on February 1.
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