I-League: Real Kashmir put six past Indian Arrows

Kolkata, Feb 4: Real Kashmir put in a ruthless attacking display as they beat the Indian Arrows 6-0 in the sixth round of fixtures of the ongoing Hero I-League season at the VYBK Stadium in Kolkata on Thursday.

A brace from Dipanda Dicka, was followed by strikes from Lukman Adefemi, Haroon Amiri, Chesterpoul Lyngdoh and Danish Farooq.

Real Kashmir made just one change from their goalless draw against Gokulam Kerala FC, as head coach David Robertson brought in Farhan Ganai for Danish Farooq. Indian Arrows, who lost closely to Chennai City FC, made two changes, as coach Venkatesh Shanmugam started with Sajad Hussain Parray and Abdul Hannan.

The first chance of the game fell to Mason Robertson in the second minute itself. However, his volley hardly troubled the Indian Arrows custodian Zahid Hussain Bukhari. Three minutes later, Robertson was at the end of Samuel James Lyndoh’s cross, but he could not direct his effort on target.

David Robertson’s side came knocking again in the 10th minute. Lukman had an opening, but he skied his volley after Bukhari failed to clear his lines. Real Kashmir had another chance with Dipanda Dicka, but the Cameroon attacker’s curled effort went fairly wide.

After a surge of attacks from Real Kashmir, the Arrows slowly got into the game, and put up a fight. They finally broke out and threatened the Real Kashmir goal in the 18th minute through Fela, but his weak shot was easily saved by Mithun Samantha. Most of Real Kashmir’s chances kept coming in from long balls and corners.

Minutes after the water break, Mason Robertson wasted another opportunity to break the deadlock. The skipper broke past three defenders, before releasing a low strike, only to be denied by the Arrows keeper. The Snow Leopards finally broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute.

Pratesh Shirodkar stole the ball off Brijesh Giri. Farhan Ganai then launched a long ball forward and Sajad failed to clear his line. Dipanda Dicka pounced on the bouncing ball and headed it before the oncoming Bukhari to open the scoring.

The Arrows regrouped and won a corner a minute before the break. However, Parthib Gogoi’s floated cross hardly troubled Mithun’s goal, and David Robertson’s side went into the break with a one goal lead.

Real Kashmir had a golden chance to double the lead ten seconds into the second half. Dipanda Dicka pounced on a weak pass from Evan Thapa, and sent Robertson through on goal. But the latter slipped at the vital moment and the chance went begging. It did not matter, however, as five minutes later Real Kashmir doubled their lead.

Samuel James Lyngdoh delivered a floating delivery from the corner, and it was met by Lukman Adefemi. The Nigerian made no mistake as he slotted his header past Bukhari in the Arrows goal. Real Kashmir put the game to bed in the 61st minute after Haroon Amiri powered Sena Ralte’s free-kick past a hapless Arrows defence.

In the 71st minute, Dipanda Dicka almost added his second goal of the game, but his powerful freekick from just outside the area hit the post. The Cameroon forward, however, found his second goal of the game three minutes later. Robertson flicked Amiri’s long throw, causing chaos in the box. The ball fell to Dipanda Dicka, who bundled it over the line and put Kashmir four up.

Chesterpoul Lyngdoh came off the bench and made an impact on the 80th minute. The substitute turned outside the area and pulled the trigger. The keeper was unable to hold on to it, and the ball bounced into the net.

Vibin Mohanan tried to get a consolation goal with a long-range effort, but the substitute’s strike was way off target. On the other side, Real Kashmir added another goal as Danish Farooq released a rocket-of-a-shot which went straight into the top left-hand corner in the 86th minute. The Arrows had a couple of efforts towards the end of the match, but failed to trouble Mithun Samantha, as the match ended 6-0 in favour of Real Kashmir.

Source: AIFF Release