Fateh could have etched their name upon the trophy and began their preparations for the upcoming I-League second division national rounds on a confident note if not for splendid penalty stop from AGORC custodian Raji Naidu in the 7th minute.

By | Published: 11:28 am

Hyderabad: Fateh Hyderabad AFC’s hope of clinching a title victory were blown to pieces as they were held to a goalless draw by opponents AGORC in the Super League match of the Telangana Football Association’s (TFA) ‘A’ Division Rahim League at AOC Grounds on Sunday.

Fateh could have etched their name upon the trophy and began their preparations for the upcoming I-League second division national rounds on a confident note if not for splendid penalty stop from AGORC custodian Raji Naidu in the 7th minute.

Fateh were handed a penalty after AGORC centre back Tatam Naidu brought down Portuguese winger Luis Carlos inside the six-yard box.

In what would have been a game decider, Fateh’s playmaker, the diminutive Nima’s shot was stopped by goal keeper Raji who dived to his left to halt the killing blow.

Raji won the crowd’s heart with his flying saves denying many a chance to frustrate Fateh.

Having messed up the penalty, Fateh’s game degenerated. They began to play dangerously. As a result, Fateh’s Luis Carlos (20th minute) and Nitin Jyal (22nd minute) invited wraths from the referee Roshan who issued yellow cards within a span of two minutes for committing fouls on the rather composed AGORC players.

A change of tactics in the second half soon saw Fateh deploying more pace to their attack. Sporting director and coach, Yogesh Maurya brought in English man Adam Mitter in place of a Nitin Jyal, and Bonison Singh in the right wing replacing Jayabrata Dhar. Both Nitin and Jayabrata had a bad day at office.

Fateh’s Rinreithan Shaiza displayed good presence giving the AGORC defence a hard time with his skilful game. Adam who started most of his Rahim League encounters in the bench got on to a tussle with AGORC’s young striker Abdul Rehman in the AGORC box in the 70th minute. Both players were given yellow card for their excessive talking and misconduct on pitch.

A few more attempts at goal from the skilful Binison Singh and Vicky Meitei for Fateh went in vain as AGORC custodian Raji stood tall in front of the goal denying Fateh their first title win.

The first red card of the tournament was issued when striker Abdul Rehman was given the marching order by referee Roshan in the 89th minute of the match. An already booked Rehman got into a fistfight with Fateh’s skipper and rock solid defender Gurtej Singh. The former was shown the exit door and Gurtej was penalised with a yellow card.

Fateh will now have to wait for the next league encounter between defending champions AOC and AGORC on Tuesday to decide the winners. With five points form three matches Fateh sit on top of the table followed by AOC with three points. A win for AOC would deny Fateh their chances of grabbing their first title.