Last-gasp winner sees Tata Football Academy edge Bengal Football Academy in 7-goal thriller

Substitute Chetan Hansdah sealed the dramatic win for the Tata Colts in second half injury-time.

Tata Football Academy started their IFA Shield campaign with a win over Bengal Football Academy in a match played at Barasat Stadium earlier today. A last-gasp winner from Substitute Chetan Hansdah for TFA made the difference on the day as the match ended 4-3.

The match started slowly as both the sides were taking time to settle on the ball and find their feet. Both teams struggled to keep possession in the early minutes, but Tata Football Academy got into the groove earlier than their opponents.

The Academy from Jamshedpur also had a decisive decision going in their favour when a BFA defender pulled down a forward inside the penalty area in the 8th minute. But, much to his joy goalkeeper Surajit Pramanik saved the spot-kick, keeping BFA in the game.

From then the match titled towards TFA as they enjoyed more of the possession and created quite a few chances. They had another opportunity to score when winger Mani Sana and received a great ball from the left wing with only the keeper to beat. The youngster did force a save from the BFA custodian, but it was a rather tame effort on goal.

TFA did came back strongly when a BFA defender conceded a cheap foul right outside the box. The swerving free-kick found a TFA player at the far post, as Kilong scored the opening goal to break the deadlock

Bengal Football Academy did have a rare chance when winger Souvik Kar freed himself from his marker and had only the goalkeeper to beat. But. the youngster couldn't hold his nerve as the chance went begging.

TFA again came close when Dipak Rajak went on a stunning run down the right wing, as he dribbled past 2-3 defenders in one go, but his final effort went agonisingly wide of the post. However, they kept knocking on the door as midfielder Samarjit again broke the BFA resilience and lobbed it over the keeper but the midfielder was judged offside.

Also Read:

Mohun Bagan start IFA Shield campaign with thumping win over Churchill Brothers

Tata Football Academy holds 12th convocation

What could East Bengal and Mohun Bagan signing up for ISL mean for I-League

The second started with a bang as Prasanta Banerjee's boys upped the ante and midfielder Md. Sumit restored parity for BFA. They seemed to be a totally different side in the second 45, as they had the urge to go forward. The midfielders seemed more determined to hold the ball and the team as a whole were  much more impressive.

After equalizing, it was all BFA, as they dictated terms and were clearly the better side. Winger Sudip Das missed his marker and a defence-splitting pass from midfield set him on his way as the youngster handed BFA a well-deserved lead.

Minutes later, BFA scored again as their midfielders were clearly dominant their counterparts and a cross from the left flank was coolly finished by Jiyaruk Paik. BFA had a comfortable two-goal cushion, but the game wasn't over yet.

Tata Football Academy came back to the scene when forward Mani Sana was handed the opportunity to pull one back from the spot, after chaos in the BFA box. The youngster made no mistake as the ball struck the roof of the net.

Mani Sana kept on moving forward and his positional sense and blistering pace were giving headaches for the BFA defenders, as they kept on conceding cheap fouls in the final third. TFA came back into the game in the 80th minute, when a swerving free-kick from the left flank was met by Sukhlal Konkal, who put it past the goalkeeper to bring his team back back on level terms.

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

The last quarter of the match was end-to-end as both teams were moving forward in search of the winner. TFA came very close to taking the lead in the 84th minute when BFA custodian Surajit came off his line to snatch the ball away from an attacker, but he was nutmegged and the goal was wide open for another TFA player. But, a timely intervention from defender Prasenjit Das saved the day for Bengal Football Academy.

BFA also came close to taking the lead themselves, but fate had other ideas, as a long range free-kick skimmed the bar on its way out. Indranil Chakraborty's boys did make most of the chances they had as an added time (90+2') winner from substitute Chetan Hansdah saw them seal all three points.