Brentford too good for Indian team

The Indian national football team began its England tour on a disastrous note, losing to second division side Brentford 0-3 at Griffin Park on Tuesday evening.

Lloyd Owusu scored a brace of goals for the home side, which finished 14th in Division 2 in the 2000/01 season. Captain Paul Evans accounted for the other goal.

A crowd of 3,634 saw Brentford, nicknamed 'The Bees', score thrice within a spell of five minutes in the first half to take the game away from the Indians, who are touring England for the second consecutive year.

The Indian team next plays first division outfit Nottingham Forest on July 28. On July 31, it meets third divisioners Leyton Orient and then rounds off the four-match tour with a game against Division I team Walsall on August 3.

Last year, India lost 0-2 to Fulham but held first division side West Bromwich Albion to a goalless draw and beat neighbours Bangladesh 1-0 in the third and final game.

Owusu opened the scoring in the 34th minute, finding the net from a header from a Tony Folan corner.

A minute later, Paul Evans increased the lead, firing home a stiff 30-yard shot to the bottom right-hand corner.

Owosu made it 3-0 in the 39th minute, finding the mark from a narrow angle after Hunt set him up with a deft header.

That burst of three goals was enough to let the home side relax. Though the Indians tried hard to make an impression in the second session, with their skipper and Bury player Baichung Bhutia attempting to go solo at times, their efforts were not substantial enough to shake the strong Brentford defence.

Brentford were particularly pleased to host the fixture as six months back its members had vowed to do something for the earthquake victims of Gujarat. The proceeds from the gate collection will be sent to the prime minister`s national relief fund.

The Teams:
BRENTFORD: P Smith (Gottskalksson), Lovett, Anderson (Gibbs 88), Folan (Williams 56), Ingimarsson, Theobald, Evans (J Smith 69), Mahon (Hutchinson 69, Dobson 82), Owusu (O`Connor 45), Partridge (Abbey 45), Hunt (Charles 64).

INDIA: Virender Singh (Sangram Mukherjee), KV Dhanesh, Mahesh Gawli, Deepak Mondal, Daljit Singh, Jules Alberto, Khalid Jamil, Renedy Singh (RP Singh), Hardip Singh Sangha (Dipankar Roy), IM Vijayan (Bijen Singh), Baichung Bhutia.

Referee: Jay Singh.