India won the Hero Tri-nation Football Series cup
India 1 : 1 St. Kitts & Nevis
37' Jackichand Singh Amory Gvaune 71'
India won the Hero Tri-nation Football Series cup. Despite being held to a
1-1 draw by St. Kitts & Nevis at the Mumbai Football
Arena tonight (August 24, 2017), India triumphed the Hero Tri-Nation
Football Series 2017 with one win and one draw while St. Kitts & Nevis
finished second with two consecutive draws.
Jackichand Singh started on a promising note
and looked to be the major threat to the visitors who poked a dangerous pass in
the second-minute itself but Balwant Singh missed the header by a whisker.
FC Pune City signed Spanish defender Rafa
FC Pune City signed Spanish defender Rafa
Stephen Constantine's boys got the breakthrough
in the 38th minute when Jackichand Singh headed a long ball from Rowllin Borges
home to send the crowd into a delirium.
Indian midfielders were dictating the game from
the scratch of the game and the St. Kitts & Nevis players were completely
dominated by their Indian counterparts.
Meanwhile, it was
Jackichand's second International goal and incidentally, both goals have been
scored at this particular venue, the maiden one coming against Puerto Rico. The boys went into the break with a one-goal
lead.
Constantine opted to introduce Robin Singh
after the break having withdrawn Balwant Singh who saw a first-half goal ruled
offside in the 26th minute.
9 minutes after the hour-mark, Bertie Carlos
came very close to find the equaliser but Subrata Paul poked it away to give
away with a corner to the visitors.
Dimitar Berbatov is marquee player of Kerala Blasters
Dimitar Berbatov is marquee player of Kerala Blasters
On the third consecutive corner, the
Carribean side scored the equaliser from a looping header by Amory Gvaune in
the 71st minute.
10 minutes to the end of the regulation
time, Anirudh Thapa joined the fray to etch his name in the history book as the
517th player to debut for the Senior National Team.
Nikhil Poojary operated exuberantly from
the right flank but his efforts could have been dealt well by the strikers. In the added time, Robin Singh hit the
woodwork and Md. Rafique's header missed the back the net by a whisker.
Meanwhile, India's enviable 9-match
(including an unofficial friendly against Bhutan) winning spree came to an end
with the 1-1 draw. In the first match of Hero Tri-nation Football Series India beat the Mauritius by 2:1.
