Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 30
Good Kashmir news from the sporting world — Real Kashmir Football Club, barely 18 months after inception, has created history by becoming the first Kashmiri club to qualify for the I-League.
Real Kashmir FC won the I-League 2nd Division League title today, beating Delhi-based Hindustan FC 3-2 in Bengaluru on the final day of the division league season. The team needed only a draw to win the title and promotion to I-League, but they did it in style, winning 3-2. The Kashmir Valley team finished with seven points — from two wins and one draw — from three matches in the final round.
Real Kashmir got into the lead through Ifham Tariq Mir in the 22nd minute, but Kushant Chauhan equalised for Hindustan in the 34th minute. However, strikes by Danish Farooq (42nd) and Nadong Bhutia (67th) put the Kashmir outfit decisively ahead. Chauhan scored his second goal for Hindustan in the 80th minute, but it wasn’t enough to derail the dreams of the club from Kashmir.
Costly miss
Hindustan FC dominated the early part of the match, and created the first chance in the 17th minute when Nikhil Gehlot delivered a free-kick into the box, but Pawan Pratap Singh was off-target with his header.
Real Kashmir took the lead five minutes later when Ifham collected a pass from Danish before calmly slotting the ball past Mithun Samonto.
Chauhan scored the equaliser in the 34th minute after latching on to a loose ball in the box. Real Kashmir restored the lead three minutes before half-time when a swift counter-attacking move allowed Danish the easiest of tap-ins.
The second half saw Real Kashmir on the ascendancy from the very beginning as they opted for a more aggressive attacking game. Real Kashmir made it 3-1 in the 67th minute when Nadong, who came in as a substitute, scored from Ifham’s point-perfect pass. Hindustan FC went all out towards the end and were rewarded with a goal in the 80th minute courtesy Chauhan.
The Real Story
Real Kashmir became only the second professional club based in Kashmir when it was formed, after Lonestar Kashmir. The rivalry between the two clubs is only starting, and Real Kashmir have earned the boasting rights by getting into the I-League before Lonestar Kashmir.
David Robertson, the Scotland international player and coach, is at the helm at Real Kashmir, and the last 18 months have been like an unexpected dream for him. He expected to find India hot, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the weather in Kashmir was like that of Scotland. He faced the challenge of creating a fighting unit out of raw and diverse talent available at Real Kashmir. “Our manager said, I think, that we’ve got seven different religions on the club. Combine that with three different races — Asian, African, and European — and we’ve got a wide mix and it’s taken a while to get them all together. They’ve started to respect each other and work for each other,” Robertson said earlier this month. The foreign players are Kouassi Yao from Ivory Coast and Nigeria’s Loveday Enyinnaya, the captain. There are also players from different parts of India.
Last year, Lonestar Kashmir FC became the first Kashmiri professional club to play in a national tournament. Also last year, Real Kashmir FC became the first club from Kashmir to play overseas when they toured Scotland for four matches.
Now they’ve created history and have every reason to be proud of themselves.
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