BMFC start well; Easy
for Pax of Nagoa

Bengal Mumbai Football Club, Mumbai, got off to a winning start in the final phase of the Second Division National Football League, beating State Bank of Travancore, Thiruvananthapuram, 3-1 in Pondicherry on Monday.

BMFC opened their account in the 20th minute. Left half Kamal Thapa centered the ball across the goalmouth for striker Chima Okerie to score as SBT keeper Purushothaman wrongly judged the flight of the ball.

The Mumbai side mounted pressure and raided the bank citadel relentlessly. However, wayward finishing deprived them of any further success.

SBT restored parity in the 36th minute through a self goal as BMFC defender Yakub Raba Mallam deflected the ball into his own net as goalkeeper Anup Aag watched helplessly.

BMFC shot into the lead again in the 73rd minute when Chima made no mistake, collecting a pass from Adesinha Sadiq, to score.

The bankmen made a change and brought in Asif Saheer in the place of Lionel Thomas. But the substitution made no difference as the BMFC strikers had already taken full control. They completed the rout when Adesinha Sadiq collected a pass from Peter Chidi and neatly placed the ball into the goal.

With this win, BMFC joined Indian Bank, Chennai, and Dempo, Goa, on three points each.

In another match, Pax of Nagoa toyed with Indian National Football Club, Delhi, before emerging 4-0 winners.

Mario Pereira opened the scoring in the second minute, but the Goa team had to wait till the second session to increase the lead.

Amaechi Nwabunwanne made it 2-0 in the 60th minute with a solo goal, before Sebastiao Endro (66th and 85th minutes) could complete the rout.

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