GUWAHATI, Sept 25 � Despite playing an impressive game Assam Rifles Soccer Team had to depend on their shooters in tie breaker to defeat local outfit Sunrise Athletic Club by an aggregate of 5-4 goals in sudden death in a quarterfinal match of the 61st Bharat Ratna Lokapriya Bordoloi Trophy Football Tournament at the Nehru Stadium here today.
In the regulation 90 minutes the riflemen rallied to play 1-1 draw and in tie breaker both the teams struck thrice. In sudden death Assam Rifles substitute L Zuala netted off the 7th shot while Bikram Singh of Sunrise misfired.
It was an entertaining encounter and both the teams adopted attacking tactics from the initial stage. Sunrise went 1-0 ahead in the 31st minute when Joseph Camara gently pushed home off a measured pass from his Nigerian team mate Jhon Madu.
But the Assam Rifles players never gave up and enhanced their speed after conceding the goal. Frontliners L Santa Singh, H Haokip and veteran Akum Ao combined well and virtually tore apart the opponent defence. They finally levelled the score line in the 68th minute through Santa Singh. Sunrise custodian Shanti Ranjan Das fumbled in gathering the ball and opportunist Santa smartly pushed home for the equaliser (1-1).
However, at the fag end of the match Sunrise striker Camara missed from a point blank situation.
In tie breaker Akum Ao, Thoithoiba Singh and Santa Singh were the successful shooters for Assam Rifles while Ajit Singh and Naoba Singh�s shots were saved by Sunrise goal keeper. In sudden death M Kamei remained unsuccessful in hitting the target.
For Sunrise Nymer Loyi, Shaolin Singh and Sayao Thankul beat the Assam Rifles custodian but Bikram Halder, Raju Roy, John Madu and Vikram Singh failed to convert their shots in penalty shoot out.
Today�s match: (Q/F) OIL vs NF Rly.
