STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: Etihad FC, Young Star FC and Shopian FC won their respective final matches of district leagues in the ongoing State Football League-2017.
All the three final matches were played at Synthetic Turf, TRC in Srinagar.
After a hiatus of 10-days, the football fans from all parts of Kashmir once again thronged to Synthetic Turf, TRC to support their favourite teams and players. The enthusiasm of fans from districts was huge as they had travelled a long distance to watch their football heroes perform at the Synthetic Turf.
The first final of the day of District Pulwama, Zone Pampore league started at 11:00 AM between Etihad FC Pampore and SFA XI Pampore.
In the high speed match, Etihad FC Pampore defeated SFA XI Pampore by Three goals to Zero. Both the teams played attacking football throughout the match and it was a high scoring match. The forward lines of both the teams kept each other’s defence lines busy. But it was Etihad FC, who managed to find the net more often than the opposite team. As the referee blew the final whistle, Etihad FC were lead in 3-0.
The second final of the day of District Kupwara, Zone Handwara league, which started at 12:30 PM, was played between Young Star FC and Salman FC. In the closely contested match, Young Star FC defeated Salman FC by three goals to two. It was a highly entertaining match as defence lines of both the teams attacked each other’s goal post from both the flanks. The defence lines were always under pressure and the final minutes of the match proved a real entertainment when the winning team was trying to protect their lead and the losing team was desperate to score an equaliser. When the referee blew the final whistle, Young Star FC players had a sigh of relief as they were leading by 3-2.
The third final of the day of District Shopian League, which started at 2:00 PM, was played between Shopian FC and Losedeneu FC. Shopian FC emerged winners in the match by Five goals to nil. The high speed and the quality of the football displayed by the winning team enthralled the spectators. After scoring first goal in the first half of the match, Shopian FC team never looked back.
They kept the pressure on the defence lines of the opposite team throughout the match and were able to score back to back 4 goals as well. The losing team couldn’t score despite getting several opportunities.
M. Amin Khan Member JKSSC & Rouf Tramboo, Member JKSSC were the Chief Guests on the occasion, distributed prizes and uniforms among the winning and runner up teams.
The finals of the League tournaments were organised by the respective District/Zone Associations under the auspices of J&K Football Association. The league matches were played from August to October 2017. 25 to 60 teams participated in each tournament. The finals were played in Srinagar with a view to provide an opportunity to players from remote areas to play at the Synthetic Turf.
The State Football League-2017 is being organised by the J&K Football Association (JKFA) in all 22 districts of the state to unearth the hidden talent. More than 500 football teams and clubs with over 12000 players and over 1500 team officials are participating in the mega event, first of its kind in the history of J&K football.
