RAHUL Sankrutyayan Sports Association had to toil hard for more than an hour to eke a fighting draw against Qidwai Club in the ongoing JSW Elite Division League Championship being played at Dr Ambedkar Stadium in Suyog Nagar, north Nagpur. In their last match of the 10-team competition, Rahul ended their league assignment at the fourth spot with 16 points after they played out a 1-1 draw with Qidwai who finished at the eighth position with only seven points.

For Rahul, this was their first draw after nine games. They have won five and lost three to qualify for the Super Four League which will commence in a few days’ time. South East Central Railways, who are at the third spot with 16 points (better goal average) will play their last league game against the bottome placed Big Ben, on the morrow. Big Ben had a poor tournament this season and have been relegated to Super Division after they failed to register even a single win from eight games till now.

 

They have suffered seven losses and played out only one draw. Big Ben have conceeded 20 goals and managed to score only three this season thus being pushed to Super Division. On Friday, Rahul needed a win over Qidwai to jump to third spot but they were stunned by the Lashkaribagh based club in the 10th minute when Aman Halonde breached the entire defence of Rahul and slotted the ball across the goal line. Rahul then played the chasing game and were brilliantly held by Qidwai. Their relentless efforts finally bore fruits as they managed to score the leveller 10 minutes before the final whistle. Badal Soren directed the ball into the net after receiving the pass from Anurag Solanki in the 80th minute.