Nagjee Cup: Rapid and Volyn share spoils

Rapid Bucharest from Romania drew with Ukraine’s Volyn Lutsk 1-1 in a Group A match of the Sait Nagjee trophy international football tournament.

FC Volyn Lustk player Memeshev Redvan scores a goal against FC Rapid Bucuresti in the Sait Nagjee International tournament at the Corporation stadium in Kozhikode.

There was plenty of entertainment for a decent holiday crowd at the Corporation Stadium on Sunday night as Rapid Bucharest from Romania drew with Ukraine’s Volyn Lutsk 1-1 in a Group A match of the Sait Nagjee trophy international football tournament.

Both the sides played some quality football, but were also guilty of being somewhat rough. The match saw as many as six yellow cards, with Rapid collecting four of them. There were in fact two scuffles on the field, in either half, with players pushing each other a bit.

Fortunately, those incidents did not turn uglier and the match could boast quite a few beautiful moves from both sides. But, it was the Ukrainians who showed more keenness to go forward. There was a considerable period of time in the opening half when all their players, except the goalkeeper of course, were in the Rapid half.

That was after the Romanians took the lead in the 12th minute. George Tudoran gave the finishing touch, form inside the box, to a neat pass from the left by Madalin Martin.

Stung by the goal, the Ukrainians attacked, relentlessly; it seemed only a matter of time before they equalised. And they did, in the 58th minute, through Redvan Memeshev, who was also the Man of the Match.

It was a lovely goal as skipper Sergiy Kravchenko gave an excellent cross from half-way down the rival half, and Memeshev came up with a perfect header. The goal livened up the game more, as the Romanians also began to press forward more.

There was a flurry of opportunities for both sides till the end. But, neither could covert.

Result: Rapid Bucharest 1 (George Tudoran 12) drew with Volyn Lutsk 1 (Redvan Memeshev 58).