ONGC lived up to their defending champions tag by beating Union Bank on India (UBI) 3-1 in the first game of this year's Mumbai District Football Association's (MDFA) Elite Division.
However, the match was marred by tough playing conditions, which turned the beautiful game into 'survival of the fittest'.
The game started at 2pm in scorching heat at Fr. Agnel's, Vashi. To add to the players' woes, it was played on an artificial turf, which tends to heat up more than a natural surface. As a result, they weren't able to play to their full potential.
ONGC were in control right from the start, constantly putting pressure on the UBI defenders. But they could only open the scoring in the 36th when they were awarded a corner kick. Kailash Patil's powerful header from inside the box was no match for UBI's goalie, Prakash Chauhan, who is one of the key players for Rizvi College in inter-collegiate tourneys. The score remained the same at half-time.
The second half was much more exciting. Just four minutes into the half, Ketan Kalgutkar equalised for UBI sending shock-waves to the ONGC camp. The panicked ONGC were forced to introduce their star mid-fielder and former India player, Jatin Bisht Singh, who proved to be the difference in the end.
In the 54th minute, Singh played a perfect through ball to Tarik Ahammad, who made no mistake in drilling in past the goalie. But Singh wasn't done yet. In the 64th minute, he scored with a curling free-kick from just outside the penalty box to take the game away from UBI.
Julian D'silva, coach of UBI said, "It was too hot. The players couldn't play properly, but I think Jatin took the game away from us. I told my boys to mark him carefully, but he outplayed them with his experience."
Singh was very happy with his performance, his first since becoming a dad. "I became a dad three months ago, and this was the first competitive game I've played, so to score with a free-kick feels really good," said Singh, who even has his son's name- Samarth- tattooed on his forearm.
MDFA secretary, U Banerjee said that they will not play any more games at 2pm. "We've spoken to the clubs and decided that the games will be played henceforth at 4pm. Also, we are planning to organise a few games under floodlights.
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