Jammu: J&K Bank XI defeated Accountant General’s (AG’s) XI by two goals to nil in the Premier Division match of the ongoing State Football League-2017, at Synthetic Turf TRC on Monday (Oct 23) while the Super Division match played at the same venue between Jhelum Sports and Lone Star KFC Blue ended in a draw.
The Premier-Division match between the Bank and AG’s XI was expected to be a closely contested affair and football fans in huge numbers had gathered at the venue to witness it. As the play started the forward lines of the two teams tried to make an early impact in the match and attacked each other’s goal post regualrly. However, till 28th minute of the match, no team was able to breach the defence line.
But all this changed in 28th minute when Danish of Bank scored the first goal of the match giving his team a huge boost. AG’s XI tried to score an equaliser but failed to do so and at half time score line read 1-0 in favour of the Bank. The second half witnessed some attacking football by both the teams as AG’s team was desparate to score an equaliser while the Bank wanted to double the lead. However, till the last minutes of the match no team was successful in their attempts. The hopes of AG’s team to score an equaliser were dashed in the last minutes of the match when Rohit of Bank team managed to score the second goal. The shocked AG’s players had no time to react as the refree blew final whistle. Faisal Thakur of the Bank team was decalared player of the match.
The Super Division match of the day between Jehlum Sports and Lone Star Blue ended in a goal less draw. Right from the start of the match, player from both the teams tried to attack opposite goal post frequently. But on all the occassions, they failed at the fininsh line. When the referee blew the final whistle the score line read 0-0.
The State Football League-2017 is being organised by the J&K Football Association (JKFA) in all 22 districts of the state to unearth the hidden talent. More than 500 football teams and clubs with over 12000 players and over 1500 team officials are participating in the mega event, first of its kind in the history of J&K football.
While B-Division League of State Football League is already completed with IFC Nowgam winning the title, the A-Division League has reached to the final stage with Fort View FC and Novelty FC qualifying for final. In Super and Premier Division leagues, more than 60 percent matches have been completed.
The premier division teams include J&K Bank XI, Forest XI, Police XI, Food and Supplies XI, Accountant General’s XI, Maharaja FC, Iqbal FC, I-League Lone Star KFC, I-League Real Kashmir FC, Power Development Corporation and State Football Academy are participating in the event.
The DFA Srinagar, DFA Anantnag, DFA Baramulla, Sopore Zone and Pattan Zone, DFA Budgam, DFA Kulgam, DFA Shopian, DFA Pulwama, DFA Ganderbal, DFA Zone Kupwara and Handwara, DFA Bandipora Zone, Hajin Zone, DFA Kargil and DFA Leh will send their teams for Kashmir province after the culmination of district leagues.
Similarly, DFA Jammu, DFA Kathua, DFA Samba, DFA Reasi, DFA Udhampur, DFA Rajouri, DFA Poonch, DFA Doda, DFA Ramban, DFA Kishtwar will send their respective teams from Jammu province.
The participating teams have strength of 20 players each with three officials. Besides Srinagar, the matches are being played in Anantnag, Baramulla, Sopore, Bandipora, Pattan, Hajin, Handwara, Kupwara, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Ganderbal, Budgam, Leh and Kargil.
