Mumbai: Charanjit Singh was at his brilliant best and played a key role in helping Western Railway snatch a close 3-2 win over Union Bank of India in an exciting Elite Division match of the Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) League, played at the Western Railway ground, Mahalaxmi, on Tuesday evening.
The diminutive striker exploited the home conditions as he set up the first two goals scored by Shakinath A. and Somnath Mondal before firing in the third at the fag end of the match. The spirited Union Bank outfit got their goals through an early penalty conversion by Patrick Mascarenhas and later through Ashish Pawaskar in the second half.
The match was played at a fast pace and there was plenty of goal-scoring chances created at either end. Union Bank opened the scoring in the very fourth minute when they were awarded a penalty by referee Richard after Merwin Stephen was fouled by Western defender Prabal C. Mascarenhas scored from the penalty spot.
Western fought back and restored parity when Charanjit crisp flag-kick from the right was firmly headed home by Shakinath in the 41st minute. The railwaymen went on to take the lead when Charanjit delivered another measured corner kick and Mondal sneaked in to powerfully head home past goalkeeper Prakash Chauhan in the 65th minute.
Union Bank restored parity when Ashish Pawaskar found the back of the net in the 80th minute. Charanjit put the icing on the cake by slamming in the winner with a rasping left-footer in the third minute of additional period of the match.
