South East Central Rly advance in Kadam Memorial Soccer

Pune, Feb 21 (UNI) A fine brace by striker Mohammed Shafique helped South East Central Railway, Nagpur shunt out local outfit Thundercatz 3-1 today and move into the second round of the floodlit all india invitation Abhijit memorial soccer tournament being played here.

The second tie scheduled for the day, however, drew a blank as Pune Police, a local side conceded a walk over to Aurangabad XI. The Pune cops informed the organisers, through a letter, their inability to play as they were busy playing in a police tournament being held in Thane.

Against the run of play, the gutsy Thundercatz XI shot into the lead in the very third minute of the commencement of play via a solo burst made by Saby Koruth, who caught the rival defence napping to score with a powerful essay from the top of the box.

Though rattled by the early reverse, the Nagpur Central Railway mustered all their resources with striker Shafique not only restoring parity but increased the lead as well.

Shafique pounced on a opening made by Srikant Roy to score in the 12th minute to level the score. He later struck again in the 56th minute to find the mark connecting a cross from R Inamullah and in the process completed the brace.

UNI