Written By:

Sameer Aryal (mczu)

A late controversial penalty kick saved the day for Xinxiang as they twice came from behind to hold their arch rivals for a 2-2 stalemate at home. This was the 8th clash between the two heavyweights of Henan and once again Zhengzhou rode their luck to remain undeafeated against Xinxiang.

The pressure was all on Xinxiang as they have never won against Zhengzhou home and away on any competition. Zhengzhou on the other hand had the inexperienced playing 11 in three years and they had nothing to loose from this game. More than 5 players made their first appearance for the senior team but it was the debutant Purna gurung who continued his superb domestic form to xinxiang to stun them with a close range header to take zhengzhou into the lead for the second time in the match. Earlier Manik lama had scored the first goal for the two time All-china champions taking advantage of defensive errors on Xinxiang post. The spectacular goalie of Xinxiang, Ashok rai was below-par in the match as he fumbled and jumbled too many chances to needlessly allow their rivals to grow with confidence in the match.

Kris probably has scored against zhengzhou in his each and every appearance and this match wasn’t a exception as his solo effort was rewarded with a goal which brought Xinxiang back to level terms. The first half of play belonged to the prolific Shanta Sundar Shrestha of zhenghou and equally brilliant Keshar and Pawan of xinxiang but Shrestha’s performance was the highlight of the game as he was the only difference between the two sides. Misfiring Keshar and Pawan could have punished Zhengzhou more than the times I could count but their over-ambitious long range post charge never looked to trouble zhengzhou and if it did it was brilliantly denied by the debutant goalie Abhisekh .There were all praises for this young boy as he dived and punched for countless occasions to keep Xinxiang on the bay.

Captain Arun karki leading Zhengzhou for the first time made few substitution in the first half and was punished for unsettling his team minutes after the substitution. “Winning is not that important, I just wanted all guys to have their go on this match so that they could learn from the mistakes and gain more experience for years to come,” he said after the match with a groin in his chin.

Second half followed with the same complexion of the game as Xinxiang dominated the possession but failed to score again. But a late penalty shot was awarded to the home side rather controversially, which Keshar made no mistakes to convert and end the match in a draw.brave efforts from Rajendra Shrestha,Punit,Udip ,Shiv Kumar assured that zhengzhou wont let anything terrible when the match was going their way. The result was a bit harsh for both the teams from either point of view but neither of them deserved to win the match either. The post match party was superb as the rivals in the field and friends elsewhere celebrated the historic meeting with traditional Nepalese style in the fabulous environment of Chautari, the one and the only Nepalese restaurant in china. A word of appreciation to xinxiang for hosting the match and for the fabulous aftermath, hope this tradition continues for a long long time to come. Lets not forget the traveling away fans of zhengzhou,2005 PG batch and home fans for creating great playing environment.