Srinagar : SK Pora FC, Real Wanpora FC, Pattan Zone and Fort View FC won their respective final matches of district/zone leagues in the ongoing State Football League-2017. All the four final matches were played on Sunday (Nov 5) at Synthetic Turf, TRC in Srinagar.
Being Sunday, football fans from all parts of Kashmir in huge numbers had gathered from early morning to support their favourite teams and players. The enthusiasm of fans from districts was huge as they had travelled a long distance to watch their football heroes perform at the Synthetic Turf.
The first final of the day started at 10 am between SK Pora FC and Syed FC. Amid huge roar from the crowd, the players of the two teams started attacking each other’s goal post right from the start of the play. However, the forward lines of both the teams failed to breach each other’s defence lines.
Both the goal keepers made some exceptional saves drawing huge cheer from the crowd. With no team able to score in the allotted time, the match was decided in a tie breaker. While SK Pora FC succeded in coverting three kicks into goals, Syed FC players could convert only two.
In the second final of the day which started at 11:30 am, also turned out a close contest between two evenly matched teams – Real Wanpora FC and Qaimoh FC. Both the teams tried to score right from the word go, but failed till the referee blew the final whistle.
They missed several scoring oppurtunities in the allotted time and the outcome of the second final too was decided in a tie breaker where Wanpora FC prevailed over Qaimoh FC. While winning team scored four goals the losing team could convert only two kicks into goals. The final result was 4-2 in favour of Wanpora FC.
The third final of the day, which started at 1 pm, broke the jinx of no goals scored in the allotted time with the winning team – Zone Pattan – scoring five goals while the losers Ziya FC scoring two. The high speed and the quality of the football displayed by both the teams enthralled the spectators.
After scoring first goal in the initial minutes of the match, Zone Pattan team never looked back. They kept the pressure on the defence lines of the opposite team throughout the match and were able to score five times. However, in between Ziya FC forwards also managed to breach the defence lines of Pattan team twice to reduce the margin of victory to 5-2.
The last final of the day, which started at 3 pm, between Fort View FC and Novelty FC turned out to be the match of the day. The players from both the teams were not ready to give an inch to the opposite team. While Fort View team scored two goals in the first half of the match and kept the defenders of the opposite team under sustained pressure, the Novelty FC players bounced back in the second half.
Novelty FC scored a goal in the second half and after reducing the margin to 2-1, the match in the last minutes turned out to be a delight. While Novelty FC palyers were desprate to score an equaliser, the Fort View players were concentrating on maintaing the lead till end. When the referee blew the final whistle, it was 2-1 in favour of Fort View FC. Both these teams have qualified for Super Division League for next year after they finished as first two toppers in the A Division League.
The finals of the League tournaments were organised by the respective District/Zone Associations under the auspices of J&K Football Association from August to October 2017. 25 to 60 teams participated in each tournament. The finals were played in Srinagar with a view to provide an opportunity to players from remote areas to play at the Synthetic Turf. Secretary Sports Council Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, who was the chief guest on the occasion, distributed prizes among the winning and runner up teams.
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.
