Memories from the Bench

It was Day 2 of our incredible run in the Soccer Tournament. We were to play the MGIT team which grew in strength compared to 2 years ago when we played them for fun. We lost 7-1 to them back then, yet I expected a better result this time as we had a well-knit team. The venue now shifted outside the local pool and we were in JNTU to play the last set of matches. The day started off early for us because of the distance of the venue from home. The match kicked off and it was more than satisfying to watch from the bench (again). We dominated the first half completely. The ball was in their court for about 90% of the time and we finally got the break-though with Chaky the star scoring after a long long break. We were ecstatic when the goal was scored and jumped around crazily. We continued to dominate the game and though a few good chances were thrown away, I felt satisfied by the way the team played. The defense still made mistakes resulting in a few scary moments but we pulled it off with a clean sheet.

 

The semi-final spot was ours and we were to play a tough team from Nizams. By then our team achieved some kinda over-night star status and had a big bunch of students and administration for support. Sadly we couldn’t live upto the promise of making it to the final after a really really hard struggle to keep a clean sheet against Nizams. The entire focus was on defense as the opponents were attacking with mighty force. We were outdone in all speed, power and strength. As an inexperienced team we had lower stamina and physically were much smaller than them which was a huge disadvantage for us. I personally know a few members from their team as we met during some of our ‘fun’ matches. Those guys could single-handedly outrun even 4-5 players at once. When I saw them in the team I knew we were in for some serious thrashing. We fought hard to keep the ball out of the goal, and actually did well. Though it paid off, we couldn’t score a goal. It was down to the penalties to decide the result. A penalties decider simply spells doom for an inexperienced side like ours and we gave up the fight there. We made a silent exit from the tournament after moving up so well. I was pleased to see the dedication from the players, and I wish I could have contributed to side.

 

But the amazing thing is we wouldn’t have even dared to dream of a semi-final spot a year ago. It was the strengthened team largely due to the first-years (mostly from Aero) that took us this far and I am sure will go much further in the coming years, though I might not be able to witness all that. It was what we were dreaming of from the first year, to play in a major tournament and go at least this far. We did it at last fortunately just before leaving, and it’s more than what I could have asked for. Long Live, my team!!