Central Railway, Parshuramians register wins

Pune, Feb 20 (UNI) Altaf Ali stole the distinction of recording the first hat-trick as Central Railway (Bhusawal) steam-rolled past Phoenix Sports Club 7-1 while Parshuramians XI made heavy weather of Rahul Sports Club by posting a 2-0 win and moved into the second round of the All India Abhijit Kadam Memorial Soccer tournament being played here.

The railwaymen were head and shoulders above the local outfit Phoenix and almost scored at will. Playing a fast and well-knit game, it was striker Altaf Ali who displayed his skills and talents in ample measure to notch four goals.

Ali's superb ball control and speed often caught the rival defence on the wrong foot. Combining well with Zahir Ali and Vincent D'Souza, Altaf found the net in the 55th, 57th, 67th and 69th minutes.

Earlier, left-winger Zahir Ali started the goal rush, scoring in the 7th and 31st minutes, while Vicent D'Souza chipped in with a solitary goal in the 44th minute.

Phoenix had the consolation of reducing the margin via centre forward Mayur Lokhande who, after being put in possession by Zahir Ali, scored from close range before the final whistle.

In the other match, Parshuramians could have won by a bigger margin but missed many sitters.

Mid fielder Rohit Gadgil started with a flourish, scoring in the very first minute after capitalising on a well-measured cross from Abhijit Wakhankar. Rahul boys, shaken by the reverse, kept looking for the equaliser as their forwards got past the rival defence but failed to give meaning to any of their moves.

On the change over, Parshuramians made the issue safe when Abhishek Wakhankar made no mistake after Milind Rane made the opening in the 59th minute.

UNI