Mahindra United outplay Hong Kong Happy Valley 3-1

Margao, Apr 10 (UNI) A fine brace by Pomeyie Andrews Mensah helped Mahindra United trounce Hong Kong Happy Valley 3-1 and kept their unbeaten record intact in Group 'E' match of the AFC Cup 2007 here at Nehru stadium Fatorda today.

Mahindra, who played true to their reputation, registered their third win in a row. They have now 9 points, strengthening their chances of qualifying for quarter finals.

Mahindra United's S Venkatesh scored the first goal in 40th minute and Pomeyie Mensah in 70th and 74th minutes, while A G Gerald reduced the margin for visitors in the 51st minute.

Mahindra, who had improved their perfomance in every outings, were outstanding from the kick-off but took time to settle down.

Their dominance was evident in the first half, with the way they played. They could have been up by at least three goals in the first half itself, but strikers lacked the finihing touches.

The jeepmen made some quick moves and came near scoring as early as in the 9th minute, when Ghanaian Yakubu after receiving a pass from S Venkatesh saw his attempted shot missed by a whisker. In the next minute, Pomeyie Andrew Mensah's header sailed over the bar.

Mahindra were almost in the lead in the 11th and 37th minutes but it was Hong Kong's goalkeeper C Y Fan, who frustrated Mahindra's forwards with some fine goalkeeping. But he could not prevent a goal in the 40th minute by S Venaktesh. The goal was a result of a fine combine move when Yakubu Yusif gave a pass to Mensah who in quick sucession switched over the ball to better- placed S Venkatesh to make it 1-0.

After change over, Hong Kong played with a renewed vigour and could have equalised in the 50th minute but Mahindra goalkeeper Sandip Nandy beautifully punched a power-packed shot by M T Foon following a flag kick taken by V S Monttero.

In the next minute, Hong Kong restored parity through A G Gerald to make it 1-1.

After the visitors equalised, Mahindra accelerated the pace of their game. They increased their lead in the 70th minute through Pomeyie Andrew Mensah, who after collecting the ball from Mahesh Gawali from the centre, dodged past rival defenders and deceived goalkeeper to make it 2-1.

The jeepmen sealed the fate of visitors, when Mensah scored his record goal in the 74th minute in the same fashion and made it 3-1 in favour of Mahindra.

UNI