| The contenders share a point
11 May 2006
Uploaded: 10:50 PM
Victory and New Radiant (blue) in Cup Winners Cup final, tonight
both teams tasted their first draw against each other this season
Male',
MALDIVES - The likely contenders who will top the Dhivehi League Qualification Zone 9, New Radiant and Victory, shared each a point in their fifth clash of this season. And this turns out to be their first draw in this season, while other four matches ended favouring both sides equally.
Early in the game both teams created chances to break the deadlock. In the 10th minute of the game, Imran was stretched to parries away a cross by Abdullah Mohamed, the slight touch of his fingers denied the chance for Sameer, who was on position, to head the ball into the empty net.
Later in the first half, Sameer created a noticeable chance to put New Radiant infront, but for the good of Victory his powerful shot missed the target by inches.
Even in the second half, both teams created chances to score the important goal but poor finishings prevent it. In the 63rd minute Fareed's open shot was blocked by Aslam and rebounced ball was cleverly cleared by Sobah before Friday takes his move. Three minutes later Fareed again involved in a dangerous attacking moment, but Ismail's touch wasn't perfect enough to score from Fareed's well timed cross.
In the 75th minute, Imran pulled out a marvellous save; a long range shot by Adam Shareef was on target most probably to the top corner of the goal. Three minutes later on the other side, Shiyam (Dhona) wasted a golden opportunity inside the six yard box, slow reaction gave more than enough time for Janah to sweep away the danger.
Later part of the game sees players bringing down the opponents frequently and as a result some key figures from both side took some unwanted yellow cards. According to our statistics New Radiant's Nita committed 11 fouls after receiving a yellow card in the 28th minute.
Victory keeper Imran declared as the man of the match.
A draw is not a bad score: Maatey
Victory coach Mauroof Ahmed (Maatey) insists a draw against New Radiant isn't a bad day at office.
" We played against a team containing 95% of national team players. A draw is surely a big win for us. We want a positive result, and I am happy my players did that" Maatey said in the post news conference.
" I asked Imran to save as many as he can then only we can have a good result. He did what I asked him to do"
Maatey also talked about the performance of tonight's refereeing.
" Riyaz is one of the best we can get, only he can improve his performance, there is nothing FAM can do. If he can control his tempo then it would be fine, but unfortunately the match was out of his control in the later stage" Maatey said.
Injury and suspension is a big concern: Niyaz
New Radiant coach Niyaz believes one point is vital in a league tournament like this, but confirmed the remaining two points left unattainable due to the brilliant performance of Imran.
" One point in a tournament like this is not bad. But we could have grab the all three points if we scored from the chances. No doubt, Imran had a wonderful game" Niyaz said.
" We missed some key players due to injury and suspension, that's a big concern for us" he concluded.
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