JEDDAH — Akhil Kareem and Nashid Chalil scored two goals each as Naseem Jeddah Polyclinic Sporting United routed Jeddah Sports Club (JSC) Soccer Academy 5-0 in their Under-17 category of SIFF–Western Union Soccer Tournament here over the weekend. The encounter lost its glimmer as both the teams were guaranteed spots in the final before the match. Raheeb scored the fifth goal of the match as Akhil picked up his third straight Man-of-the-Match honor. Earlier, Linc Pen Soccer Freakz held defending champion Al-Hiba Green Shore Teens 1-1 in the U-17 match. Man-of-the-Match Ashfaq Hameed put Soccer Freakz in front, but Mohammad Bin Hejaz scored the equalizer for Green Shore. The third match of the evening saw Zimco BRC go down against Al-Ryan Water Town Team Strikers 2-0. It was Town Team's first win in the tournament. Jasim put Town Team in front early in the first half. BRC tried hard to find the equalizer, but Town Team goalkeeper Mujeeb made some smart saves. He not only kept BRC at bay but also captured Man-of-the-Match award in the process. AbduSathar Ibrahim doubled the lead in the second half to put the game beyond BRC. The Saudi Indian Football Forum (SIFF) is organizing the 17th league championship, which is mainly sponsored by Western Union Money Transfer. The cosponsors are Nokia, JNH, Badr Al-Tamam Polyclinic, VLCC, Zimo, Al-Abeer Medical Group, Rabea Tea and ABC Cargo. In the top match of the evening, Eastern Eranad Club comfortably beat Regal Day 2 Day Friends 3-1 in their First Division encounter. Eranad started the match in attacking fashion, posing threats to Friends from the right flank in front of a huge crowd. Friends spent most of the time defending. Young classy midfielder Ijaz Ali put Eranad in front with his powerful left-foot carpet shot following a well-combined move with Fatheel Rahman and Mohammed Faysal. Eranad keeper captain Abdul Salam denied Friends a chance to equalize on powerful shot by its captain Haris Nageri. Haris again missed a chance the very next minute, while Safeer shot wide at the other end in a game that was played at a ferocious pace. Eranad came into the game following the break looking confident and doubled the lead through Faysal, who headed a cross from O.K. Javed. Faysal scored his second 3 minutes later following a nice solo effort to sit atop the scorers' list. Shereef scored a consolation goal from the spot for Friends. The frustrated Friends players produced some ugly football in the dying minutes of the game. It resulted in three of its players get marching orders. Matches Friday: International Indian School Jeddah vs. Indonesian International School 5 p.m.; Combined Brothers vs. Al-Noor Medical Center YCC 6:20 p.m.; ACC B vs. ABC Cargo Yas Club 7:50 p.m. — SG
