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Despite being held to a 1-1 draw by St. Kitts & Nevis at the Mumbai Football Arena on Thursday, August 24 night, India triumphed in the Tri-Nation Football Series 2017 with one win and one draw while St. Kitts & Nevis finished second with two consecutive draws.
Jackichand Singh started on a promising note and looked to be the major threat to the visitors who poked a dangerous pass in the second-minute itself but Balwant Singh missed the header by a whisker.
Stephen Constantine’s boys got the breakthrough in the 38th minute when Jackichand Singh headed a long ball from Rowllin Borges home to send the crowd into a delirium.
The Indian midfielders were dictating the game from the start while the St. Kitts & Nevis players were completely dominated by their Indian counterparts.
Meanwhile, it was Jackichand’s second International goal and incidentally, both goals have been scored at this particular venue, the maiden one coming against Puerto Rico last year. India went into the break with a one-goal lead.
Stephen Constantine opted to introduce Robin Singh after the break having withdrawn Balwant Singh who saw a first-half goal ruled offside in the 26th minute.
Nine minutes after the hour-mark, Bertie Carlos came very close to find the equaliser but Subrata Pal poked it away to give away a corner to the visitors. On the third consecutive corner, the Carribean side scored the equaliser from a looping header by Amory Gvaune in the 71st minute.
10 minutes to the end of the regulation time, Anirudh Thapa joined the fray to etch his name in the history book as the 517th player to debut for the Indian Senior National Team. Nikhil Poojary operated exuberantly from the right flank but his efforts could have been dealt well by the strikers.
In the added time, Robin Singh hit the woodwork and Mohammed Rafique’s header missed the back of the net by a whisker.
Meanwhile, India’s enviable 9-match (including an unofficial friendly against Bhutan) winning spree came to an end with the 1-1 draw.
India are scheduled to play against Macau in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers on September 5, 2017.
India: Subrata Paul – Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan [C], Anas Edathodika, Narayan Das – Jackichand Singh (60′ Nikhil Poojary), Eugeneson Lyngdoh (60′ Mohammed Rafique), Rowllin Borges (80′ Anirudh Thapa), Halicharan Narzary – Jeje Lalpekhlua (86′ Manvir Singh), Balwant Singh (46′ Robin Singh)
