League Play-Off

Newton Abbot
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Janapati Sen made the kick off and thus started the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Janapati Sen in the 3rd minute of play forced Newton Abbot AFC's goalkeeper Ekata Rahul to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Harsha Balli could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 5th minute of the match, but Kavi Reddy made a huge save. In the 6th minute Angusa Tipnis shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Ekata Rahul saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Ekata Rahul showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Janapati Sen in the 9th minute of the match. The audience was convinced that Jasjit Mann's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Kavi Reddy was relentless in the 10th minute of the game. When Janapati Sen came up free with the goalie in the 16th minute, the Nottingham fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Janapati Sen couldn't finish the play. Angusa Tipnis received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 17th minute. Ekata Rahul tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After some fancy dribbling in the 19th minute, Harsha Balli managed to get in a good position for a shot. Newton Abbot AFC's supporters rose to their feet, but Harsha Balli was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Kavi Reddy breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. If Harsha Balli had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 21st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 23rd minute, Jasjit Mann fired away a shot on goal. He put a little to much spin on the ball and sent it just wide of the right post. Jasjit Mann received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 26th minute. Kavi Reddy tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 29 minutes into the match, Newton Abbot AFC's Jasjit Mann sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Kavi Reddy narrowly saved just below the crossbar. With his leg Kavi Reddy managed to avoid a goal in the 34thth minute, when Newton Abbot AFC's Harsha Balli fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. Tara Bahia's late challenge caught a Newton Abbot AFC's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Tara Bahia helped the player get up and apologised. After 39 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for Nottingham! When the match had been going on for 41 minutes, Newton Abbot AFC's Atmavira Tjinder got an opportunity to shoot a penalty. He stayed cool and waited for the goalkeeper to move, before he confidently shot the ball into the goal, to the left of Kavi Reddy. Kavi Reddy was in the perfect position, and the defense had done a good job marking him, but Harsha Balli showcased his skills and made a perfect shot to score 2-0 in the 45 minute of play. The home fans were very happy to see their team leading 2-0 at half-time.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Jasjit Mann to make the kick off. 52 minutes into the game, Katama Rai was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Nottingham's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Newton Abbot AFC the free kick. Harsha Balli received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 58th minute. Kavi Reddy tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After a defensive mix-up in Nottingham's zone, Harsha Balli stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Kavi Reddy came out of the goal and Harsha Balli tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. After 67 minutes, Amitagati Kishore mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Newton Abbot AFC and the Nottingham players grew even worse after the yellow card. A collision led to Newton Abbot AFC getting a freekick after 67 minutes play. Amitagati Kishore hit a great ball. After recieving a nice pass, Nottingham's Muralidaran Sohal tried to score from far away in the 67th minute, but the ball went over the crossbar. Janapati Sen recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 72nd minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. When Janapati Sen came up free with the goalie in the 74th minute, the Nottingham fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Janapati Sen couldn't finish the play. After a defensive mix-up in Newton Abbot AFC's zone, Angusa Tipnis stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Ekata Rahul came out of the goal and Angusa Tipnis tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. In the 78th minute, Newton Abbot AFC's goalie took a deep sigh of relief after Angusa Tipnis fired away a hard shot that went just outside the left post. 80 minutes into the match, Newton Abbot AFC's goal looked a bit too open when Janapati Sen came free, but Ekata Rahul reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After having played for 91 minutes, Jasjit Mann managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Newton Abbot AFC's supporters crossed their fingers, but Jasjit Mann was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Nottingham's players left the field with heads hung low after losing a match that had been finely balanced throughout.