Vinoth hat-trick sends Students reeling

Substitute Vinoth Kumar scored a hat-trick as HAL continued to rebuild their image hammering Students Union 5-1 in a lopsided encounter in the BDFA Super Division league football match.
The big victory was also sweet revenge for the former champions who had crashed to a humiliating defeat against the same opponents last season. At the same time, it was a surprisingly tame surrender by the team known for its fighting qualities.
On Wednesday, HAL were on a different level as they peppered the rival defence with a flurry of attacks. The floodgates opened in the 25th minute when skipper RC Prakash set up Vinoth Kumar who slotted home with ease.
Three minutes later Students conceded their second goal as the defence struggled to cope up with the pressure. Again it was Prakash who did the spadework and set up his teammate for the kill. Striker Emmanuel was never going to spill the golden chance and his shot gave no chance to Student's custodian Thomas.
In the 42nd minute it was the turn of Hamza to celebrate his first goal as he latched on to a freekick. The Nigerian, who was used as an attacking medio, rounded off the goalkeeper and slotted home before kneeling down to kiss the turf in celebration.
Even as Students hoped to regroup at the breather they suffered another jolt as Vinoth slotted in his second and the team's fourth finishing off a fast counter attack in injury time. It came immediately after Students came up with their first threat but Hemantha's full blooded shot cannoned off the HAL defender Jaya Kumar.
The second session didn't completely go HAL's way though they quickly added a fifth in the 56th minute as Vinoth completed his hat-trick immediately after resumption. Students finally found some vigour to attack and scored a consolation goal through Philips in the 83rd minute.