The 2010 I-League 2nd division was the third season of the second tier of the I-League, the highest football league in India. It commenced on 26 March 2010 with the first matches of the first round and ended in early May 2010 with the last matches of the promotion round.[citation needed] All matches are played in three venues at Delhi, Bangalore and Tripura.[citation needed]
Team summaries
The first round was competed by 21 teams, which have been divided into three groups with seven teams each. The two teams relegated from I-League directly played in the final round.
Eight teams will vie for a place in the next year ONGC I-League as Second Division final round goes underway from 30 April at the KSFA Stadium, Bangalore.
With two last year relegated teams (Mohammedan Sporting and Vasco SC ) and with six qualifiers from the preliminary round viz. NISA (Manipur), ONGC (Mumbai), Sesa Football Academy (Goa), Oil India (Assam), Malabar United (Kerala) and the local side HAL (Bangalore) the final round is all set to be a blockbuster event.
It will be clash of two Goan outfit in the opening match as Vasco SC will take on their city rival Sesa Football Academy that will kick off at 1400 hrs, while HAL will host Malabar United in the second encounter of the day that will start at 1600 hrs.
The preliminary round performance will surely boost all the qualifiers but final round is totally a different ball game and it was clearly seen in the last year's final round, when Sesa Football Academy after putting an impressive display in the first round, went on to go down in all the crucial final round matches.
The most surprising team of the lot was without a doubt Kerala based side Malabar United, who kept their domination in the Group A even with the likes of HAL, SBT and BEML.[1]
Updated to match(es) played on 25 May 2010. Source: Soccerway Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. (P) Promoted
