Mohun Bagan today gave away two vital points which would have come handy at the death of this edition of the I League. Kareem Bencharifa has to be congratulated for his faith in the young Shilton Paul. Bagan had yet another bad day in office, it seems to have become a habit with the Green and Maroons. Bagan today as in almost all matches this year, let in one when a Dipak backpass was headed down to Amos by Rakesh Masih, who gratefully slotted home past a diving Shilton who, surprisingly was standing almost at the top of the six yard box. (1-0) Rakesh Masih, the tall, dark and handsome medio from Gurdaspur was an asset last, but this year he is a pale shadow of the previous years form.

Branco scored a snotter today when he deftly directed a centre from Snehasish in. (1-1) The tide had turned and Bagan was on the charge. Chiddi’s run of misery continues as his grounder was parried by the Sporting custodian. The return shot by Branco was again parried by the goalie. In this sequence, the first thing that comes to mind is that had either of these shots would have been a goal had it been off the ground. The lead came when James Singh sent in a lob to the unmarked Marcos, who made no mistake in slotting home. (1-2)

Then the unbelievable happened Sporting pulled back one and the scores were level. (2-2)An innocuous centre was flicked on by Amos to the onrushing Joseph Perriera, who made an unbelievable finish with a flick with the left outstep from the top of the box. The Bagan custodian was, again, off his line, somewhere near the top of the six yard box. Why doesn’t someone tell him that he needs to spend more time on the goal line? That would solve half his problems.

At this point it was looking like as if every attack would result in a goal, but the referee intervened and declared that it was half time.

The second half saw a reinvigorated SCG, they attacked from the word go and the Bagan defense was in splinters. The Bagan goalie did his name proud for it was this youngster who saved his coach from certain shame. Such was the condition of the much vaunted team that at one stage, the only striker upfront was Suraj Mondal, Chiddi had to be brought down to the midfield so that the tidal wave called Sporting Clube de Goa could be held to a draw.

A lot of questions need to answered, why was Suraj Mondal brought on in place of Branco? Why was Ishfaq brought on in place of Snehasish, Why was Tomba brought on almost at the death when he could have replaced Snehasish and played the flank with James. Why is Ishfaq brought on in every match when the poor confused soul can’t figure out why he is there? Why is Subho Kumar made to warm the bench every day while boys like Ishfaq and Suraj (now thats a cruel joke) get the chance.

It was an unbelievable display of miserable football, in the first half by both sides, and in the second the visitors stuck to their role as the hosts turned a page and charged with whatever they had. The young Shilton did a splendid job of keeping the sporting attack out.

The team and the team management should really think hard about their strategy in the future games. They must keep in mind that they have millions of supporters and fans all over the world. One small example of which is the multi-gym that is being gifted to the club by its supporters, just because they have exorcised a 34 year old ghost. But they must remember that pumping five past a local outfit is not and should not be the ultimate aim of Mohun Bagan Athletic Club. The players should know that they are wearing the most privileged jersey in this country and if they are not up to it, it’s a shame. They must also learn that to Mohun Bagan, being champion is all that matters, if they are not champions, it does not matter whether they are 2nd or 2nd last. Ours is a unique culture, those who understand live on forever in our hearts, and others fall by the wayside.

Being 2nd best is not good enough for us.

Teams:

Mohun Bagan :Shilton, Mohanraj, Deepak, Masih, Surkumar, Snehashis (Isfaq), Marcos, Manish, James (Tomba), Branco (Suraj), Chiddi.

Sporting Goa:Luis, Samananda, Elvino (Mathew), Rogen, Felipe, Bibiano, Bishsewar (Freiman), Rovan, Joseph, Amos, Tayo.

Referee: Dinesh Nair

 

Mariners’ chief coach Kareem Bencherifa is still very much confident about rest of his team’s journey in ONGC I-League. After the practice session yesterday in a press meet he articulated his confidence for his team. Mariners are now on the sixth spot of the table by achieving nine points along with JCT. Dempo, Chirag, Mahindra, Churchill are to the fore of the mariners at this moment. But still as many as twenty as matches to play and there will be a lot of ups and downs in the table. So, there is ample chance for his team to make-up that nine points deficit in their later matches by giving more than 100% of their ability. Team Mohun Bagan will be arriving to Goa on Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, team is ready for Goa trip as they will play their next match against last year’s third place holder Sporting Clube De Goa. But this year Sporting is still in the last position of the league table. They have got only two points from their five matches, still no victory glory for them so far. So, Mariners are looking pretty confident against this Goa outfit because of their team spirit and performances in near past. Even though this is an away match and in the soil of Goa and Mohun Bagan have lost to Mumbai FC in the last match at Barasat Stadium, yet Mariners are confident enough to get three away points in their next match.

Shilton Paul, the main goal-keeper due to nonappearance of injured Sangram Mukherjee, was in the practice and Coach Kareem and Goal-Keeper coach Hemanta Dora spent a lot of time with him regarding his poor show in some of the matches. The coaches are very much confident about Shilton and they will remain him in the first team in the match against Sporting. Pralay Dutta is the second goal-keeper. In a practice match against Bhawanipore, Mohun Bagan team management have tested both of the goal-keepers in two halves respectively, Mohun Bagan won the match by 4-0.

In a programme yesterday evening in the Mohun Bagan tent an internet fan groups MohunBaganclub@yahoogroups.com has given Rs.53000/- to Mohun Bagan Gen. Secretary Mr. Anjan Mitra for the three instruments of multi-gym for the usage of the players of the club.

The 18 members squad for Sporting de Goa match:

1. Shilton Pal

2. Pralay Dutta

3. Surkumar Singh

4. Sagram Mandi

5. Mohanraj

6. Rakesh Masih

7. Dipak Mandal

8. Zenith Mashangva

9. James Singh

10. Ishfaq Ahmed

11. Snehasish Chakraborty

12. Manish Mathani

13. Marcos Pereira

14. Subho Kumar

15. Chiddi

16. Branco Cardozo

17. Suraj Mandal

18. Tomba Singh

 

Mumbai FC, the punching bag of this year’s I-League, held out to a 2-1 victory against fancied Mohun Bagan. The ominous signs were there for all to see when just over an hour before the match captain and No. 1 goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee slipped and fell in the Barasat Stadium bathroom, getting himself badly injured and ruling himself out of the match. The match itself was probably killed in the 1st minute when stand-in keeper Shilton Paul was caught off the line by an innocent header from Abhishek Yadav from a Subhas Chakrabarty centre. It was a soft goal by any standards, one which could have floored the morale of any team.

However, resilient that Bagan is, they took it in their stride and mounted pressure on the opposition, looking for the equaliser. However, the dismal display continued at the other end. Ishfaq Ahmed, the poor confused soul who sometimes doesn’t seem to know why he is around, was today fielded as the support striker to Edeh Chiddi. Perhaps someone forgot to tell him that and most of the times he was completely out of position and the only time he was on the spot, he cleared a ball he was supposed to score from, and that too from within the six yard box and with only a hapless goalie to beat. James’ superb cross was thus made redundant.

After playing most of the first half in their opponents’ half, albeit somewhat haplessly, a sudden counter attack saw the inevitable “shall I punch – shall I collect – shall I fist?” show from Shilton Paul who ran out, collided with his own defender (Mandi) and spilled the ball with the same result that came on 7^th August 2007 and Bagan was suddenly trailing by a brace.

 The change of ends saw the induction of Branco in place of the rudderless Ishfaq. The wings started moving and the opposition skeletons were tumbling out of their goal, only our ball wasn’t going in. A few chances went out which however cruelly, pointed to the fact that it wasn’t to be our day.

A few times, shots were taken by Manish and Surkumar, but apparently no one told them that one doesn’t take a grounder at goal from 18 yards out with 20 players inside the box. Our midfield had them in their grip, only our strikers were not able to free themselves from their markers. Shilton had no further mishaps, however it has to be said here that he had to gather the ball only once in this half. It was all one way traffic. The position sense of Chiddi also has to be questioned, quite a few times, he was found behind his marker when the crosses were floated in, one can’t really expect to get the ball by remaining behind the marker in an aerial ball.

Branco made his mark when with a deft touch he eluded his marker and unleashed a blinder from a difficult angle. His splendid shot was parried by the Mumbai keeper, only to drop in front of Snehasish, who somehow bundled it home. (1-2).

Mumbai FC hung on by the skin of their teeth to take home full 3 points, where they deserved none. The only notable performer in their team was Subhas Charabarty. Towards the end of the match, Snehasish had a minor foot injury and was replaced by Kuluthungan, another confused individual. He missed one golden opportunity when he shot wide; on another occasion he had only the goalie to beat at the death and he squared it to the onrushing Chiddi. Chiddi did come up with a superb shot when for once he freed himself of his marker, but his wonderful effort hit the bottom of the post and spun out.

On hindsight it was perhaps Shilton’s mistakes that cost Mohun Bagan the match, though one shouldn’t forget all those missed chances. One does not want to be too harsh to this obviously talented youngster, but one has to remember that the Bagan jersey does not come free and wearing it in itself is an honour that has to be upheld each and every time a player walks on to the field. Perhaps it is time to give Chirodeep Chatterjee or Proloy Dutta some opportunities to prove their mettle while giving Shilton a rest to recuperate and reflect and recover his confidence.

All in all, it was a bad day in office for the whole squad, including the coach. We sincerely hope they learn from their mistakes and come back stronger in the forthcoming matches.

Teams:

Mumbai F. C.:Nidhinlal, Anas, Evans, Bernerd, Basiru (Alex), Noel, Abhishek, Subhash (Nishat Mehra), Daren, Kamaljeet, Prem Kumar.

Mohun Bagan:Shilton, Surkumar, Deepak, Mandi (Tomba), Mohanraj, James, Manish, Marcos, Snehashis (Kulothungan), Isfaq (Branco), Chiddi.