Charles’ brace sets up the victory

In a dull match in terms of chances created, Southern Railway beat Indian Bank 2-0 in the CFA senior division league at the Nehru stadium here on Monday.

That said, there was the odd occasion when the match aroused interest.

First, there was Samson Leo’s hand-ball inside the box that allowed Railway go one-up via the subsequent penalty; Charles Anand Raj hit it straight and the ball eased into the net as the ’keeper strayed sideways.

The second goal stunned and thrilled — stunned, as Charles curled a long-ranger into the top right corner of the net; and thrilled, as the move had come utterly unexpected in the last minute of added time. However, Charles had to leave the field immediately after, copping a second yellow-card for pulling his jersey over his face in celebration.

Now, the other notable moments: Indian Bank’s Abioudun Olatsto Joseph could not get to Lallian Sanga’s cross from the left as the ’keeper beat him to it.

In the second half, David’s cross from the right was headed straight to the ’keeper by Abioudun.

Railway’s P.C. Riju shot a long-ranger just above the post. Later, he missed a header off Swaraj’s cross from the right.

The result: Senior division: Southern Railway 2 (Charles Anand Raj 49, 90+5) bt Indian Bank 0; First division: SDS 3 (Sunil Solomon 45, Vijay 48, 50) bt SAI 1 (M.D. Shahio 49).

Points table (team, played, won, drawn, lost, points): Chennai City 7, 6, 1, 0, 19; Viva Chennai 6, 5, 1, 0, 16; Indian Bank 7, 3, 1, 3, 10; Hindustan Eagles 5, 3, 0, 2, 9; Chennai United 5, 3, 0, 2, 9; Southern Railway 6, 2, 2, 2, 10; Chennai FC 7, 2, 1, 4, 7; Income Tax 5, 2, 0, 3, 6; Chennai Customs 4, 1, 1, 2, 4; ICF 6, 1, 1, 4, 4; AGORC 5, 1, 0, 4, 3; MSU 7, 1, 1, 5, 4.