Srinagar: Under second phase of first Mufti Mohammad Syed Memorial Gold Cup League Football Tournament-2017, on Sunday, two matches were played Synthetic Turf TRC.

In the first match of the day, Fortview FC Srinagar defeated Pulwama FC by two goals to one. In the closely contested match, both the teams missed several scoring opportunities. However, compared to Pulwama FC, Fortview FC made lesser mistakes and were the eventual winners.

Throughout the first half, the defence lines of both the teams had to keep the forward lines at bay. In 25th minute of the play, Nabeel of Fortview FC managed to breach the defence lines of Pulwama FC to score the first goal of the match. However, this didn’t stop Pulwama FC players from playing aggressive football and just two minutes later, they scored equliser through Aatif. The rest of the first half saw both the teams attacking each other’s goalpost with higher frequency. When it looked that the first half may end 1-1, Naveed from scored the second goal for Fortview FC in 43rd minute of the play.

In the second half, both the teams looked desperate to score and came closer several times only to fail at the final moment. In the last 10 minutes of the match, both the teams looked desperate with Pulwama FC trying to score an equalizer and Fortview FC team trying to take further lead. However, none of them succeeded in their effort and when the referee blew the final whistle the score line read 2-1 in favour of Fortview FC team.

As the match was played in the morning session, the chilly winds blowing across the ground didn’t stop the two teams from playing attacking football which delighted the spectators, who braving the extreme cold had thronged the venue in huge numbers.

In the second match of the day, J&K Bank Academy defeated Young Islamabad (Anantnag) FC by four goals to one. The quality and the speed of the football displayed by Bank players enthralled large number of fans. Farhan Pathan opened the account for the Bank team in 11th minute of the play which set the tempo for Bank XI. Though Anantnag FC players tried their best to score an equaliser, the Bank defence lines didn’t allow them so. The first half ended with score line reading 1-0 in favour of the Bank Academy.

As the second half began, the Bank Academy players stepped up their attacks on the opposite goalpost and in 50th minute of the match, they double the lead through Haseeb. Just 10 minutes later Ateeb Shafi made it 3-0 in favour of Bank Academy. Haseeb scored his second and team’s fourth goal in 63rd minuted of the match and virtually sealed the fate of the match. However, despite trailing 4-0, the Anantnag team made a counter attack and in 68th minute they managed to score one goal through Akiq Fayaz. The rest of the play ended goalless and Bank Academy won 4-0.

In the third match of the day, Star FC Fatehpora, Baramulla defeated Eithad FC Pulwama by 5-2. For the winning team, Waheed opened the account in just fourth minute of the match. However, Pulwama team made a counter attack and just two minute later scored an equaliser through Zahid Shafi.

In the high speed match, Irfan Ahangar scored the second goal for Baramulla team in 9th minute of the match while Aaqib Sultan made it 3-1 in 16th minute. In yet another counter attacking move, Pulwama team reduced the margin to 3-2 when Faizan scored a goal in 28th minute of the play for his team. At this point the match was in balance much to the delight of spectators.

However, after 30 minutes of the play, it seemed that the stamina of Pulwama players ran out and Baramulla team was all over the ground. The helpless defenders of Pulwama team were no match to them as Aaqib Sultan scored his second and team’s fourth goal in 31st minute of the match. The first half ended with score line reading 4-0 in favour of Baramulla team.

The second half didn’t produce as many goals as the first as defenders of both the teams tightened the defence lines. However, despite that Aaqib Sultan managed to score one more goal for his team in 68th minute of the match making it 5-2 in favour of Baramulla team. After that no team was able to score and Barmulla eventually won by a comfartable margin of 5-2.

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