Football Live!!! BITS WINS GOLD

Sudden death.

Number 11 from Zakir steps onto the field… and HE MISSES!!!
BITS needs to put it in, ONE penalty away from victory!! Vijay Bhaiyya steps up to the plate to take what COULD be the final penalty. He was easily the best player in the second half. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The crowd is on their toes.

AND HE SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BITS WIN!!!! And in a split second, eyes are wet, a thousand people spill onto the field, everyone’s yelling, shirts are off, people are thrown into the air…. We won. It was a smash-and-grab but every win counts. BITS wins the FOOTBALL GOLD!!!!

Penalty 5: 4-3 Zakir.
Now ALL the pressure on Manjo as he walks steadily towards the ball. Every eye on the field on him. AND HE DELIVERS!!!
Penalty 4: The crowd is trying to play mental games with the Zakir players, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting them. Score 3-3
Arpit steps up to shouts of “come on!!” … Argh. But it’s saved by Zakir. Now it’s level at 3-3.

Penalty 3: Number 3 from Zakir scores, the BITSian goalie was helpless.
Akshay Sathe steps up to take the BITSian penalty. Nail biting tension. And he scores!!!!! 3-2 to BITS.

Penalty 2: Number 15 who was behin every successful Zakir move, bottles it. He misses and sends it wide. The BITSian supporters erupt into cheers around me. Score 1-1.
Ujjwal sends the Zakir goalie the wrong way!!!! BITS leads 2-1.

Penalty 1: Goalie went the right way, but Zakir scores anyway. 1-0 to them
BRILLIANT shot. Rachit scores. THAT’s how penalties are supposed to be taken, oozing confidence, slamming into the corner of the backside of the net.

6:31
The BITSian team appear to be imitating the “united we stand” trick. Let’s hope it proves lucky. Let the games begin!!
6:30
Sorry, we appear to be misinformed, penalty shootouts are happening. Scratch extra-time.
6:25
And full-time, it’s 0-0. God knows how they managed to hang in there. Can we hear the footsteps of guardian angels?
“We’re going into overtime, welcome to the space jam… Here’s your chance, do your dance, and the space jaamm”.
And I am cut short. Harsha solemnly tells me that it’s “extratime”. We have a ridiculously boring BEP ed.
I continue my song…
6:24
Vijay Bhiayya is really showing his juniors how it’s done, he’s the only one!!

Oh wait, is that concussion?? His own player hit the ball against his head.



The ref was no where in sight, but decidedly declared an offside. Influence from the audience? Well, it happened in front of me, so I’ll vouch for him.

BITS are taking a safety first approach, sadly that’s all they can offer right now.

Pawas: The BITSians are using their heads as much as their legs. And by heads, I means HEADS. Not brains.
6:23
Call in the medics! High boot to same guy.

Free kick to BITS. 35 yards.
There’s no Zakir player in the BITSian half, a first today.

6:22
The guy who had earlier got barged lands firmly on his backside while trying to do something funky with the ball. Do we have medics ready? He might need them soon.

6:21
“I’ll tell you what our problem is, the Zakir players have got speed and we’re just too slow”- Soumyadeep’s two cents. “Isolated, that’s what they are. And thank God there’s no extra time, our players WILL DIE.”

6:20
A brilliant pass by the Zakir team, impeccable set up… but no goal.

6:19
A BITSian player discretely shoulder charged a Zakir player just now, showing that there’s still some fight left.
6:18
Foul given against BITS more for intention than for actual contact. They look really tired, Zakir’s physical superiority clearly visible now.

6:15
Another surge to the front by the Zakir offence, really putting the pressure on the BITSian side.
Meanwhile, the BITS boys basketball team begins warm up. Here’s hoping for another entertaining game :D :D

6:13
Soumyadeep's million dollar realisation: If BITS wins now, it'll really be a smash and grab.
Football doggy seems to be displaying remarkable talent, following the ball with full concentration.


6:12
Another substitution in the BITSian side, looks like the physical strain seems to be getting to them. Number 5 of Zakir is definitely controlling the plays here. A dog apparently wants to play, probably wanting to provide the much needed support to the BITSians on the left flank.






6:07
Sorry for the interruption, we're experiencing some technical difficulties at the moment. Score still steady at 0-0, despite Zakir's forceful offence .

6:08
A succession of offsides against Zakir, the BITSian s seem to have right approach.

Brilliant block by Akshay. We need that kind of confidence at this point of time.

The BITSian team is riding purely on their luck, they seem to being hanging onto their ninth life at the moment as another attempt sails just outside the BITSian goalpost.

Update: BITS wins football final!

BITS won fotball finals beating Zakir Hussain in penalty shoot-outs after the 90 mintes ended with neither side scoring. A highly exciting match where BITS had more than its fair share of luck, it kept the crowd on its edge!

So it all came down to penalties and BITS edged Zakir Hussain 5-4.

Football finals

Technical problem with live blogging. So we are 30 minutes behind real time as of now. We hope to go back live as soon as possible. Keep reading!

18:15
Another surge to the front by the Zakir offence, really putting the pressure on the BITSian side

18:13
Soumyadeep's realisation: If BITS wins now, it'll really be a smash and grab.
Football doggy seems to be displaying remarkable talent, following the ball with full concentration.

18:12
Another substitution in the BITSian side, looks like the physical strain seems to be getting to them. Number 5 of Zakir is definitely controlling the plays here. A dog apparently wants to play, probably wanting to provide the much needed support to the BITSians on the left flank.

18:07
Sorry for the interruption, we're experiencing some technical difficulties at the moment. Score still steady at 0-0, despite Zakir's forceful offence .

18:08
A succession of offsides against Zakir, the BITSian s seem to have right approach. Brilliant block by Akshay. We need that kind of confidence at this point of time.
The BITSian team is riding purely on their luck, they seem to being hanging onto their ninth life at the moment as another attempt sails just outside the BITSian goalpost.

Live from football final!

1744 hrs

BITS should be happy they have survived the Zakir onslaught so far. Except for a couple of attacking attempts by BITS, Zakir clearly dominates the first half. Teams in a huddle now.

1741hrs
A throw in for Zakir, and the ball is with the Zakir midfielders...long kick by BITS brings some tension to Zakir goalkeeper. But the ball is back in the BITSian half. By the way it is beginning to feel increasingly like beach football...there is too much sand around and the wind is blowing pretty strongly here. The ball is in Zakir half and Sarthak is on it...but last minute defending by the goalkeeper as Sarthak is attacking.

HALF TIME!

1740 hrs
The Zakir goalkeeper hasn't had anything to do so far. Not even a single goal kick. BITS team is not matching up to the tempo of the Zakir team, especially the midfielders. Still waiting for a goal, it is 0-0.

1738 hrs
Zakir is still dominating the game but they are still waiting for that killer pass to slip through BITSian defense. The central defenders of the BITSian team are kicking straight to the Zakir midfeilders.

1734 hrs
BITS, Pilani is playing Zakir Hussian in the finals of football event. The score is 0-0 and we are 30 minutes into the match.

At the moment, BITS team is not in shape and Zakir Hussain is really putting BITS on the defensive here. The possession seems to be with Zakir Hussain most of the time...
Free kick to Zakir Hussain, good block by BITS. The forwards of BITS seem isolated as the midfield of Zakir is in control. There clearly needs to be more pace in this game.

Football: BITS in the Finals!!!

BITS Pilani defeated NIEC, Delhi 7-0 today in the semifinals to book their place in the finals of the BOSM Football Competition. A combination of scintillating play by the BITSians and some amateurish defending by the NIEC team ensured that BITS now waits for either of Zakir Hussain or SRCC in the finals. The semifinal between Zakir Hussain and SRCC is scheduled at 10 am.

Details of the semifinal to follow soon...

Football Semi-Finals

The final day of sports action is usually full of great matches in football, with both the semifinals and the finals being held on the same day. The semifinals begin in one hour at 7 pm. The first semifinal sees BITS Pilani take on NIEC, Delhi. The second semifinal is between Zakir Hussain and SRCC.

Semifinal Schedule:

7 am - BITS Pilani v/s NIEC
10 am - Zakir Hussain v/s SRCC

Football: BITS, Pilani win

Earlier in the day BITS, Pilani won over Punjab Engineering College (PEC) by 1-0. This is the second victory for the BITS football team.

Football talk

In tune with the sports frenzy building up on the campus, BEP met up with the football team captain Bhargav Rani. He sounded optimistic and confident about the team’s form. He said that the team’s performance had been pretty good last year, though they couldn't make it to the finals they were in the third place. Since the team has improved since then and is in its best shape right now, he feels that they have a fair chance of getting the top position this BOSM.

Talking about the first yearites participation he said he was quite disappointed since they have only one first yearite in the team. He hopes this situation will improve later and that they would be able to get good quality players from first year too. The maximum participation is from second yearites. He credited the football leagues for the drastic improvement in the second yearites’ game. The football league was a huge success last year with around 250 people participating. Rani said that the football league had also boosted football’s popularity in BITS. Considering all these benefits of the league, he plans to make the Football League a tradition in BITS

He is happy with the practice sessions and the team’s dedication to the game. The team practices 5:30pm to 7:30pm every day of the week. There is a football coach too to help them improve their game. Rani however regrets the state of infrastructure available. Uneven ground and water logging are major problems hindering their practice. The team’s practice was also hampered by the workers’ strike as they could not play full-length matches due to overgrown grass & weeds in the ground. However, he is quite satisfied with the way they have used available resources for the game.

During the course of the conversation he informed that 15 out-station teams were coming for BOSM this year and that this is the largest participation in the past few years. So there will be lots of action for everyone to watch on the football ground. Matches will start from 7:00am itself with more than 5-6 matches a days. A team may have to play two matches a day but this he says is inevitable considering the participation. He hopes all the Bitsians will turn up and cheer the BITS team.Let us hope to see filled up stands and some great football!!