KOKRAJHAR: The 132nd edition Durand Cup kicked off from today here at the SAI Stadium. William Pauliankhum’s early second half strike was enough for Rajasthan United FC (RUFC) to overcome the resilient local side Bodoland FC in the opening match of Group F.
The game was preceded by an elaborate cultural programme and opening ceremony with the Minister of De-fence, Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister of Assam, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma in attendance.
Union Minister of Defence, Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister of Assam Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma and Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande graced the opening ceremony.
In his speech, Rajnath Singh said, “There was a craze of Durand Cup in India and the same craze is seen here”.
Football is not only a game but it's an emotion, he said adding that it was praiseworthy that Durand Cup is being held in Kokrajhar for the first time which is a proud moment not only for Kokrajhar but for the entire Assam. He thanked the Indian armed forces for choosing Kokrajhar as one of the venues and also thanked the government of BTC for wonderful arrangements. The minister, however, stayed away from giving statement on Manipur and other issues.
Earlier, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma repeated his earlier announcement that a football stadium in Kokrajhar at a cost of Rs 120 crore would be built by November.
Dr. Sarma said that holding some of the matches of the tournament in Kokrajhar is the testimony to unprece-dented peace prevailing in Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). He also lauded the arrangements put in for the match in Kokrajhar.
Today's inaugural event featured a spectacular show of thrilling displays by the Indian Armed Forces contin-gents, Sukhoi flypast, Helicopter fly pasts, martial displays, Bhangra and cultural programs by the local troupes.
The Match Report: Rajasthan United controlled the midfield and had the better share of the possession for the major part of the first half. Wingers William Pauliankhum and C. Lalchungnunga created problems for the Bodo-land defence. Bodoland defence led by Didwm Hazowary and experienced Rakesh Pradhan along with Nigerian Anyichie Echezona resisted the Rajasthan attacks and denied them any clear cut chances. The best chance for RUFC came through a corner which their Captain, Hardik Bhatt could not convert from inside the six- yard box. Bodoland could not make much inroads going forward, but came to life in the closing stages of the half. They were the more dominant side and created the best chances of the half. Ansumana Kromah found space behind the de-fence and had to just beat the RUFC keeper, Sachin Jha, but the Liberian shot wide. Arjun Mardi came close to scoring twice for the home side. His right footed curler just whisked past the post and moments later his left footed shot beat the RUFC keeper but was denied by the post.
Rain started to pour down which made the conditions a bit tough for the players. RUFC started the second half with the same intensity as they did in the first half and found the breakthrough soon. They took the lead through William Pauliankhum in the 47th minute. Lalchungnunga, whose is on loan from Hyderabad FC released Richard-son Denzel through the right wing and the Ghanaian found William on the far post who tapped to give RUFC the lead. Bodoland could have levelled soon through William Opoku but goalkeeper Sachin Jha made a point blank save to deny the local side. The match was suspended due to continuous rains in the 52nd minute. The game re-sumed after the break and the score remained the same until the full time whistle giving, the last year’s quarterfinal-ists RUFC a winning start to the campaign.
RUFC will face Odisha FC on August 11 while Bodoland FC will be against Indian Army FT on August 17.
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