Pailan Arrows thrashing for HAL

Riding high on their last win, Pailan Arrows forked out an entertaining game of football and defeated bottom-placed HAL  2-1.

Playing a controlled game and creating several scoring chances, Pailan Arrows took the lead in the 39th minute. A high-ball from the mid-field fell to Ajay Singh in the left-wing. He ran thru the pelanty box and took a powerful crack to the goal, the ball hit the diving HAL keeper Amar Deb and went into the goal.

Post lemon-break saw a revived HAL looking for an equalizer, substitute RC Prakash was controlling the mid-field, and HAL had the maximum possession. A good move from the left flank brought in the equalizer – Malemnganba Meetei’ took a left-footed cross, staying away from the two markers, Nigerian Abdulla Hamza jump was perfect, and had no difficulty in heading the ball to the  goal.

TFA cadet Alwyn Geroge scored the winner in the 82nd minute when the ball was passed to him after playing a series of short passes in the mid-field. The talented striker took a powerful goal-bound shot from the edge of the penalty box.

Pailan Arrows coach Sujit Chakraborty reckoned this victory as a ‘hard fought win’, “We played well and controlled the game in the most of first half. However, we did miss many out of those created chances. HAL too played very well at the starting of first half.”

Chakraborty added, “I’m happy that we won two matches consecutively, we’ll try to play well in our last round match.”


With this win Arrows now have 16 points from 25 matches while bottom placed HAL Bangalore stays at 8 points from 25 outings. 

Lackluster win for HAL

HAL opened their account in the Puttaiah Memorial Cup by defeating CIL by a solitary goal.

Bangalore football giants Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC played their first match in the Puttaiah Memorial Cup against CIL at the Bangalore Football Stadium yesterday evening.

HAL enjoyed most of the possession in the first half, however, the attacking duo of Fredrick Okwabe and Jotin Singh missed the sharpness, and could not get past their opponents to score. Also, a few good solo efforts by their foreigner Fredrick failed to open the goalmouth for HAL.

The second half started on a dull note with the ball mainly played in the middle-third. HAL was fortunate enough to get a penalty from a handball inside thebox. Veteran midfielder J. Muralidharan made no mistake to convert thus saving the blushes for his side.

In the other match, a 10-men team of Rail Wheel Factory was good enough to defeat Super Division newcomers Dharmaraja Union by 4-2.

Tete-a-tete with Gumpe Rime

North-east of India has been a happy hunting ground for the national club recruiters. All the top national clubs have players from this region on their roster. However, you will barely find a player from Arunachal Pradesh. One such rare player who hails from Arunachal Pradesh is custodian Gumpe Rime, playing for the top clubs for almost one and half decade.

After playing for Hindustan Aeronautic Limited (HAL) six successful seasons, Gumpe is all set to keep the goal of the newly promoted first division I-league team, Shillong Lajong FC.

Q: Hi Gumpe, tell me what prompted to take you this decision?
A: I wanted to play for a first division club and Shillong Lajong FC is the first North-east club who will be playing in the I-league first division. I hail from North-east part of India, it will be a privilege for me to play for such a club and part of the history. And If my experience can be of any use then nothing like that.

Q: Tell us something about your childhood?
A: I come from a town named Aalo in Arunachal Pradesh. After my schooling, I was spotted by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Guwahati, and groomed there for a while. I started playing for clubs since 1995.

Year	Club
1995-96 to 98-99	Mahindra United
1999-00	Bengal-Mubai Football Club (BMFC)
2000-01	Vasco Sports Club
2003-04	Salgaonkar Sports Club
2004-05 to 08-09	HAL
2009-10	Lajong FC

My experience while playing for BMFC has been quite frustrating, it was a mis-managed team where players were not payed regularly.

Some clubs appear all of a sudden and after couple of seasons they literally disappear from the scene; leaving the players in lurch.

I would like to bring to the notice of AIFF that they should check the credibility of these clubs before sanctioning their entity. Clubs like Chandni FC, Malabar FC, and Happy Entertaintment, gets a chance to play in the I-league (second division) and sad to see that HAL being left out.

Q: Goalkeping is a demanding job, how do you keep yourself fit, that too for so many years?
A: That way I have been fortunate enough, I have never got serious injuries while playing. But I do work on my fitness, during off-season I am regular at the training grounds.

Q: How was the experience playing in HAL?
A: Definitely good. After playing for so many years I am regarded as a home player.

However, they need to be more professional in their approach, there are many formalities and protocols to get the budget approved. This becomes frustrating many times.

Team management should stress on retaining talents. Lot of promising players plays for HAL during their formative years and then leaves for better growth. They should look at retaining the best talents.

Also, there is lack of involvement from the management. HAL Sports Club members are high-ranked HAL officials, you would barely find them interacting with the players. Except for sports secretory, Mr. Rajan, I don’t see anyone interacting with the players.

On the contrary, in Salgaoncar the owner himself would take his busy time out to talk and encourage the team.

Q: How is HAL team this year?
A: This current bunch looks good. Management has picked up the core of the Karnataka Santosh Trophy team, including some promising players from BEML. But as I have mentioned before, this is story happens every year, they fail to retain the talents.

Q: And what about your experience playing in Kolkata?
A: I had a short stint with Mohemadan, I’ve never played a full season there. Even during that time they changed coach many times, the management was bad. Players like Odafa and Chidi started their career in India by playing for Mohemadan. Pity that they could not retain them and later they dominated the India football scene.

Once, I had got offer from East Bengal, but I had to reject it for some reason. But yes, the media coverage is amazing, you don’t get it anywhere else in India.

Q: How is football played in North-east?
A: The local bodies in Manipur, Mizoram, Assam functions well. They have proper infrastructure, grass root level, and youth development programmes.

I am not sure about Arunachal Pradesh, the football association does not have enough funds. There is no local league in Arunachal Pradesh. The players should get proper exposure by participating in the tournaments outside Arunachal Pradesh.

This year the Arunachal Pradesh team participated in the under-21 nationals at Goa and the result was decent. Football should be played throughout the year. We have now two young players from Arunachal Pradesh, Nyamar Loyi and Tassar Techi playing for clubs. Hope they play well and make Arunachal Pradesh proud.

At times discipline becomes as issue among the North-east players. Reaching to a height is not difficult, maintaining is difficult.

We have Baichung Bhutia as our icon, but after that there is a void, there is no one even close to him.

Q: Any disappointment of not making to the national team?
A: I have played for India juniors. However, I was never selected for the senior team. I have attended national camps several times, but failed to make to the final squad. Mainly because our coaches preferred tall keepers.

Q: Who is your favorite goalkeeper?
A: I have always found Jorge Campos, the famous Mexican goalkeeper exciting. Not because of his flashy outfits, but for his agility. He did not have the height, but the kind of saves he made was amazing.

In India, I have seen Ghanaian international Edward Ansah’s keeping. He was playing in India when he was in his 40’s. Even at that age, he was one of the best keepers to have graced Indian football. Currently, Edward Ansah is the goal-keeping coach for Ghana.

Q: How long you want to continue playing football?
A: Another 3 years at the top level. (grins)

Q: Any post-retirement plans?
A: I have not made any plans yet. Definitely something related to football, maybe an instructor. I will leave it to my destiny. (smiles)

Q: Thanks Gumpe for your time and best wishes for your new venture.
A: Thanks and all the best to Indianfootball.com, keep up the good work!

Gumpe Rime moves out of HAL

Bangalore’s loss is Shillong’s gain. On the quest for the Bangalore footballers looking for greener pastures, here is the latest. Veteran custodian, Gumpe Rime is shifting his base. Come next season, he will don colors of newly promoted first division I-league team, Shillong Lajong FC.

Gumpe confirmed this news while speaking over phone.

“My main motivation in this game is to play at the highest level, I had a great time playing for HAL, but I would definitely like to be a part of a first division I-league team.” says Gumpe.

Bangalore footballers looking for greener pastures

This is what happens when you don’t have a team from Bangalore in the national level. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), who missed the second division I-League bus in the recently concluded season due to not conforming to the AIFF guidelines will soon loose some of their important players in the next season.

Thanks to their good performance in the ongoing Santosh Trophy, striker Dada Nabeel, mid-fielder Goutam Debnath, and defender Sumit Thapa are all set to join the premier division I-League clubs.

“I don’t see any problem, this was bound to happen”, says prominent football coach Andrews sir. “In this professional era, players would definitely want to earn more; this is the time for them to play and earn in a national level. They could not participate in the second divion I-League last season, and unsure about the coming season. So, I reckon this is a right decision.”

Andrews sir also adds, “Club management should look to it that their team is able to play the top-ranked national-level tournaments and ensure that their team conforms to the guidelines. Unfortunately, most of the city clubs are from the public sector, and public sector clubs functions unlike the other top-ranked football clubs”.

“Leaving HAL, I don’t see any team at par with the teams in the national scene. So you don’t really improve your game by only playing in the local league. When you go out, play in the national-level tournaments, you feel the difference, and then you raise your standard.”

HAL captain, Xaview VijayKumar opines that their team will not be weakened by the departure of these players. “We are in the process of making a good team for the coming season. Team management is working in tandem with the state and the district association to ensure our participation in the second division I-League, and I am sure we will be back with a bang in this season”.

“HAL football team is totally dependent on the sanctioned football budget. We can’t afford to pay high salary to the players, so they are bound to look for better growth.”

Asking about his own plans, Xavier says that he is very much a part of the HAL football team. “I am open to play for short stints, possibly on a loan, provided my club permits”. Xavier grins.

HAL defeats Pune FC

It was a day to remember for the football fans of Bangalore. City giants HAL, defeated Pune FC, and entered the final rounds of the Federation Cup 2008. It was a combined effort of tight defence, operating midfield, and sharp attack to overcome the challenge of Pune FC.

HAL got the better of their opponent in every department the game. They dominated the proceeding right from the beginning. Veteran war horse, RC Prakash scored the most important goal in the 38th minute of the match. Local lad, RC Prakash, who is back to Bangalore after playing eight seasons for different clubs in Kolkata and Goa, started his career for ITI.

The combination of captain, Xavier Vijay Kumar and RC Prakash really played well and entertained the crowd. Pune FC tried hard to come back to the game with some goods work from hard working Kamal Thapa. Mid fielder, Asim Hassan tried some lovely long rangers, which missed the goal by a whisker.

Teams
HAL: 30-Amar Deb; 8- Xavier Vijay Kumar (90'+4', 15-Satish Jr), 6-Satish Kumar; 14-Rajendra Prasad; 9-Dada Nabeel; 18-Goutam Debnath; 17-RC Prakash (75', 7-Karthigayan); 2-Sumit Thapa; 4-Naveen Babu; 26-Joseph Femi Adeola; 10-Fredrik Okwagbe

Pune FC: 1-Balaji Narsimhan; 2-Othallo Tabia; 3-Caitano Costa; 4-Kamal Thapa; 6-S Venkatesh; 7-M Sudeesh (61', 18-Crispin Chettri) 8-Asim Hassan; 10-Jeje Lalpekhlwa; 15-Lalrojama (59' 9-Santa Kumar); 27-Chika Wali; 28-Gobin Sewaram (79' Sandesh Gadkari)

Yellow card: 85' Kamal Thapa

Referee: G Thambiraj
Assistant referee: Nazir Ahmad, Kamil