Kalyani, March 15 (IANS) After back-to-back wins in their last two matches, Tiddim Road Athletic Union (TRAU) finds themselves in the chasing pack for the I-League trophy. Placed third with 22 points, they are level with Gokulam Kerala FC and three points behind league leaders Churchill Brothers. They can close that gap when they face RoundGlass Punjab FC on Tuesday.
TRAU will hope to return the favour from the previous encounter between the two sides where they lost 2-0 thanks to goals from Chencho Gyeltshen. Punjab secured an easy victory last time around but this time, they will be aware that it won’t be easy. The goal-scoring form of Bidyashagar Singh is something that will surely be a topic of discussion in the Punjab camp. Komron Tursunov is another name that the Punjab defence will have to take care of, with his constant link-up play with the highest goal scorer of the league causing havoc for opposing teams throughout the season.
TRAU are riding high after Bidyashagar scored his second consecutive hat-trick to help them cruise past Real Kashmir 3-1 in the previous match week. A win for TRAU can make things interesting in the league if Churchill Brothers drop points. Regardless, even if both teams win, it could set up for an interesting finale in the remaining two matches of the season.
“I am very excited about how our boys are improving and especially Bidyashagar. I have no words to describe the excitement that the performances of my team have given me and I am lucky to coach such talented players in my team,” said head coach Nandakumar Singh.
“I have never seen such good communication between Tursunov and Bidyashagar. In the earlier stage, there was some misunderstanding but they have improved a lot. It is a very good combination between the two,” he said.
RoundGlass Punjab FC will look to bounce back to winning ways after a disappointing 3-3 draw against Mohammedan SC. Punjab had a two-goal lead that they blew and were on the cusp of defeat. But, an 88th-minute goal by Ashish Jha helped them claim a point.
“We scored three goals against Mohammedan SC. We were very, very attacking. In the end, we had six attacking players on the pitch trying to win the match. We were frustrated, to be honest as we only had four matches left. We were thinking about where we would have been with the three points. We take the positive that we didn’t lose the game,” said head coach Curtis Fleming.
–IANS
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