Air India, ITI in drab draw

S Ayyappa Swamy

In a match marred by friction and tension -- some of it created by the players themselves and the rest due to the inefficiency of the officiating referees -- Air-India fought back to hold Indian Telephone Industries, Bangalore, to a 1-1 draw in a fifth National Football League match, at the Cooperage, in Bombay, on Tuesday.

There was a change in Air-India's fortunes. Usually they concede a goal in the second half, but on Tuesday they did in the 33rd minute itself as Yusuf capitalised on a defensive error by Dennis George to place the ball past Air-India goalkeeeper Mohd. Yusuf Ansari.

The airmen fought back tenaciously and got the equaliser in the 62nd minute, with international Khalid Jamil sending the ball directly in from a free-kick.

The shot was taken just outside the 18-yard box. It was Khalid's second goal of the tournament.

With both sides now appearing candidates for demotion, the match meandered into a free-for-all with elbows, legs and heads being used rather freely and frequently. Referee Yusuf Khan made things difficult with some strange decisions, even comical you could say, to provide some relief to the otherwise charged-up atmosphere.

Indeed, the two linesmen too were apalling and generally nobody on the field had any idea what was happening.

Both sides missed two sitters. Air-India's Arun Malhotra rose perfectly to meet a Bungo Singh free-kick and headed it into the defence rather than deflecting it.

On the other side, Peter Siddiqui, who was very impressive along with Prahlad Rawat, had goalkeeper Ansari at his mercy but essayed a weak shot.

Towards the end, Bungo Singh took a long-ranger, which was well-collected by ITI goalkeeper Balaji, who also effected a good save off a Dennis George chip in the first half.

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