League Play-Off

Standish
Spectators: 38 (Terracing: 29, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Standish's Namgeet Deshpande started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. After 2 minutes, Kakodara Malhotra mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Putney and the Standish players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 2nd minute, Kakodara Malhotra hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Standish's Ahara Gain played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Ahuti Singh in the 5th minute of play. Kakodara Malhotra took the ball and in the 7 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Ahara Gain. Ahara Gain dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 0-1. In the 11th minute Namgeet Deshpande shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Gusana Sutantar saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Ahuti Singh fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 16th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Ahara Gain having to interfere. Standish's Kajal Basra got a good chance for a goal in the 19th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ahuti Singh in the 21st minute of play forced Standish's goalkeeper Ahara Gain to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 23rd match minute, Standish was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Satsukh Gopalkrishnan to maneuver through the defense. Ahara Gain showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Kakodara Malhotra, who was totally free with the ball in the 25th minute. Namgeet Deshpande fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 32nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Gusana Sutantar having to interfere. Ahara Gain showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Kakodara Malhotra, who was totally free with the ball in the 34th minute. In the 39th minute, Buddharaja Gore hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. After the first half Putney were leading 0-1. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Ahuti Singh to make the kick off. Kakodara Malhotra struck a weak shot in the 55th minute. Ahara Gain didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Putney. In the 56th match minute, Standish was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Ankolita Thapa to maneuver through the defense. In the 60th minute, Anenasya Nagra hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Satsukh Gopalkrishnan received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 68th minute. Gusana Sutantar tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. An unexpectedly hard shot by Namgeet Deshpande in the 70th minute of play forced Putney's goalkeeper Gusana Sutantar to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Ahara Gain took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Ahuti Singh, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 75th minute the ball was on its way in behind Putney's goalkeeper Gusana Sutantar, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Ahuti Singh received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 79th minute. Ahara Gain tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After having played for 80 minutes, Kakodara Malhotra managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Putney's supporters crossed their fingers, but Kakodara Malhotra was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Gusana Sutantar made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Kajal Basra in the 85th minute of play. If Namgeet Deshpande had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 93rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After 95 played minutes Standish got a freekick which was hit by Satsukh Gopalkrishnan. Kakodara Malhotra fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 97th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Ahara Gain having to interfere. In the 99th minute, Kakodara Malhotra got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. The referee blew the final whistle, and the away crowd roared, having watched Putney eke out a victory against a very well matched opponent.