Mech vs ECE, 5th September

"Hot sun, beatin' down,
Burnin' my feet just walkin' around!"

Phil Collins probably never went out for a football match at nine in the morning on a sunny september saturday, but the Meddy and ECE footballers sure could identify with Genesis' 80s hit. Aware of Mechanical's 4-0 thrashing of civil the previous evening, ECE went into the match hoping to notch up something on the scoreboard before digging in deep, and their strategy very nearly worked. A superb run down the middle and a curling strike from Kishore was a clear declaration from them that they had no plans to emulate Civil, but the Meddies began piling on the pressure right away, and ECE found themselves down 3 goals in no time.





After his first goal, Kishore soon found himself out of work, as the ball seldom ventured out of electronic's half. The last few minutes of the match were filled with just about everybody on the Meddy roster going up for a shot on goal, but Kishore once again found the centre vacant and charged down to give the net another flutter. It was too little too late, though, and when the final whistle blew, mechanical had taken this one 3 goals to 2.

Mech vs Civil, 4th September

Defending Champions Civil were probably raring at the bit all month long, hoping to be the first in recent memory (well, atleast my memory!) to retain the Cup, but their performance today sure didn't seem to convince anyone! The team really missed both their star forwards of yesteryear, Jeebu and Akhil, and the mood in the camp was "Defend, Defend!" all evening long. An avoidable penalty in the first few minutes saw the Meddies take the lead, and they followed it up with two more goals in rapid succession. Fayou and Vishal controlled the midfield with panache, and Civil's lack of strikers meant the Meddy defence wasn't troubled at all. A few minutes for half-time, and the hammering resumed. Mechanical sat in the opponents half for the rest of the game, and rotated its players while giving the new freshers some match-time too. It seemed just about everyone had a shot at goal, and just their numbers saved Civil from a complete embarrassment. Parmar recovered his mojo in the second half and made a few threatening runs down the center, but except for two shots on goal, the rest were intercepted by the mechanical full-backs. Puneet's emulation of Fayou's long-range attempt from the center-line was on-target as well, but Brijesh's hands were safe as always, and Mechanical were troubled no further. Another goal half-way through the second half saw them seal it up four-nil, and the referee's three quick bursts on the whistle put an end to the decimation.

Mechanical take on Electronics in the morning on Saturday. D Sandeep and Ankush will be looking to take the game to the meddies and ruin their clean-sheet, while aware that another win for their opponents will seal this pool shut. Mechanical will be looking to score right from the outset, for last year's humiliation will still be fresh in their minds...

Pics courtesy Avinash, fellow meddy and sports fan. Thanks to Shubhanan for the camera, the Canon's going to have a busy sem. More after tomorrow's match. Go Meddies! B-)

EEE vs CSE, 3rd September '09

Well, sports season has kicked off, and how! The inaugural match of inter-branch football was a goal-scoring extravaganza, with EEE staging a 4-2 win over CSE. The stands were filled with ardent supporters, and the teams didn’t disappoint. Electrical, sporting an array of A-Class players including Bhatt, Mankotia, and every defender’s nightmare, Jason, took the fight to the opponents right away.

A superbly executed run down the middle all the way to the goal-line, and a pass to Mankotia at the mouth of the goal saw an easy tap-in and a great start for Electrical. CSE were quick to respond, though, and two goals in rapid succession saw the hackers back in the fight. A short half-time break saw a swing in the tempo, though, as CSE were unable to sustain the momentum that had kept their opponents ont their toes during the first half. Patial and Tarun were the only ones who seemed to remember that the ball is meant to be run after, while the rest of the team seemed totally sapped of strength. Electrical, on the other hand, found their groove, and started to feel their way back into the game. Rohru and Jason dominated the midfield, while Mankotia sent his usual sniper-accurate crosses from the flank. Thirty minutes later, the score stood at 4-2 in electrical's favour. CSE'll be looking to Architecture to salvage any chance they have of reaching the finals, while EEE is showing every signs of making it to the trophy.

I dont have any photos, I'm afraid. Logistics issues, and all that. I'll sniff around and see what I can dig up. Somebody must have taken photos!

Final score: EEE 4 - 2 CSE

Pools, Rules and Schedules...

Well, the pools for this year are the same as for the last, so we have:

Group A:
- Electrical
- Computer Science
- Archi

Group B:
- Electronics
- Civil
- Mechanical

For the freshers, noobs, and generally sports-unaware, the sports season here at NITH consists of Inter-Branch matches in the odd semester (the one going on right now, for those who can read faster than they can calculate), while Inter-Year takes place in the even semester. Points are given for the winners and runners-up for each sport, and during Lalkaar - the annual athletics meet, every March - prizes are given out for the best Dept as well as Year. Besides the individual and team medals/trophies accumulated through the year, of course. Wouldn't want to miss that! ;-)


As for the schedule, its up on all the notice boards, untill someone or the other tears it off in a drunken fit (post-match blues, maybe?), and I'll try to put up a soft-copy here as well. Broadly, this weekend is football, with the final scheduled for Sunday evening - Rain Gods permitting. Volleyball will be played right after the periodicals (although two matches might be scheduled next week, 7th-8th september), while basketball will be conducted right after y'all return from the Id weekend, right from the 22nd. We're hoping to wrap up the major sports by Mid-October, max, as Hill 'Ffair Fever's gonna take over the college in that month. Any queries regarding the schedule, dont hesitate to buzz any of us Sports-Committee chaps. Its what we're here for. :)

Joga Bonito!

Well, its that time of year again! NITH's sports season kicks off in the first week of September, and for sports-freaks like me, thats just about all we want to hear! I've started this blog to keep track of all that happens this year, all the ups, downs, ecstasy and aggravation, and I hope it'll bring back memories of those good ol' college days, for batches past and present!

Feel free to post your opinions, there's a "Comments" tab after every post for that very purpose. Nothing makes a blog feel more worthwhile than active participation by its readers. And if you have any photos of matches that I've been unable to cover, do drop me a line at phyberoptikal@gmail.com


Now, to business! Sorry, I mean, to sports! :-)