JEDDAH, 6 March 2004 — Young Challengers beat MES Al-Doraq Sports B 3-2 in a keenly fought match in the 2nd Division of the SIFF-Sadafco Soccer’s League at the Ministry of Education Stadium here yesterday as the tournament entered the semifinal stage.
The first of two semifinals will be played next Friday (March 12) featuring Blue Star B vs Eastern Eranad Club in the 2nd division from 4.15 p.m., and the second will be between Friends vs Arabian Soccer in the 1st division. Matches start from 5.15 p.m. The other two semifinals will be played the following Friday (March 19).
For Young Challengers, striker Firoze, winger Anwar and striker Said Alawi scored a goal each, while striker Hamza and winger Mayin, the player of the match, struck for MES Al-Douraq Sports B.
In the first of two 1st division matches that followed, Zenart ACC trounced Malabar Sports 10-0. A hat trick by Ajit led all scorers for Zenart. Other scorers for ACC were Shahjahan (2), Zameer (2), Zaheer (2) and Muneer 1. Malabar’s goalkeeper Abdul Kareem received the player of the match prize for restricting the margin of defeat with at least a dozen saves. The other 1st division tie, which was marred by a fight on the field after the breather, was won by Arabian Soccer 2-0. Both goals were netted by player of the match winger Basheer Ahmed — the first one a header and the second a long lob 10 minutes before close.
Muhammad Salim was the day’s referee and Mehboob Peshimam of Jet Airways the chief guest.
In the matches played on Feb. 27, Al-Doraq Sports beat two-time champions Asian Soccer 4-2 in the 1st division. The first string of the Al-Doraq squad, which had already qualified for the semifinals with two earlier victories, completed its league engagements with a clean slate to top Group A. The defeat of Asian Soccer allowed Bharat Cultural Center (BCC) to take a semifinal berth. Munzil and Shanawaz hit two apiece for Al-Doraq, while Azeez and Riaz scored for the losers. Shahul Hameed of Al-Doraq won the player-of-the-match prize.
In the first of two 2nd division matches, Blue Star drew with Asiana 1-1 and grabbed a last four berth. Much fancied Asiana thus made their exit from the championship. Asiana opened the scoring through Abdul Rahman and Rafeeq, who won the player of the match prize, equalized for Blue Star B.
In the other match, Al-Salama beat ACC-B 1-0 and earned a semi berth. The winner was scored by Ishaq. Mujeeb C.K. of ACC-B was adjudged the player of the match.
Three Leicester Players Charged
Meanwhile, three players from English Premiership club Leicester City were charged yesterday with sexual aggression and breaking and entering following a court appearance in this southern Spanish city after three women claimed they had been sexually assaulted, court sources said.
Three teammates were also detained pending a further hearing, according to the court sources and British diplomatic sources. “Two have been released with charges pending and one on bail of 20,000 euros,” the British sources said of the latter trio.
The court released two further Leicester players who had spent the night in custody after three women — two from Malawi and one from Kenya — made a complaint against them. Court sources named the three remanded in custody as Keith Gillespie, Paul Dickov and Frank Sinclair, adding Lilian Nalis, Matt Elliott and James Scowcroft faced a further hearing.
