South East Central Railways (Headquarters) were back on track as they registered their first win of the JSW NDFA Elite Division Football Championship, on Wednesday. After suffering a close 1-0 loss to City Sporting, SECR got their act together to register a narrow 2-1 win over Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL) XI at NDFA’s Dr Ambedkar Football Stadium. This was MOIL’s third loss in a row after they were beaten by Ansar Sporting 2-0 and Nagpur Blues 3-0. Saurav Mahey put SECR ahead in the sixth minute, but MOIL XI hit back through Khitij Uikey (17th) to level the scores. With the contest finely poised, Akif Faraz struck in the 56th minute to restore SECR’s lead on again, which they held on to until the final whistle.

 

The match turned increasingly ill-tempered towards the closing stages, with MOIL XI’s Abhishek Kathaute receiving a direct red card in the 86th minute. Several cautions were also handed out, including one to SECR’s Vipin Madne in stoppage time. MOIL XI’s Asish Kathaute (5th), Amit Thakur (26th), Abhishek Kathaute (40th) and coach Gurunath Kathaute (44th) were cautioned.