Weak performance of midfield and appalling refereeing standard result in a goalless draw. Major part of the second half Port Trust players wasted time and referee however was only a spectacle and did not take any stern action against them. Gopal Das took almost 5 minutes to enter the ground when he was replacing injured Sibram Dey. Remember last year in I league, Shilton was injured and he was shown card for limping off the ground. If that is taken as the benchmark, then 3-4 Port players should have been shown the card. In one instance, linesman Kashinath Sen adjudged MB player offside whereas the player was completely onsite and Bagan could have got a chance to score from that attack.

However, Bagan midfield also displayed poor football today. Coach Kareem had James Singh in left half position but Ishfaq was missed very badly as his down the run the left flank often caused panic in opponent box as seen in last few matches. Junior James Singh was also far from  his best and often he mispassed, same can be said of Lalkamal. Last match’s hattrick scorer Tulunga also had a disappointing performance. Barreto tried his best as he came down to distribute the ball and delivered quite a few good centers which Lalampuia, Odafa missed.

Mohun Bagan dominated the match and came upon several scoring opportunities, the easiest being missed by Lalampuia off a Barreto flick inside the box. Lalampuia had open goal in front of him but could not connect the ball properly.  Within 5 minutes, Bagan missed two easy chances when Barreto’s shot was blocked by goalkeeper and Odafe shooting wide from a corner, he should have done better. From two corners, Odafa and Vasan head wide from very close range. Few minutes before half time, Barreto delivered a good center from right, however, no one was in position to connect the ball.

In 2nd half, Branco was brought in place of Lalampuia and Lalramlua replaced James. Branco tried his best but did not get much support. It would have been better if Lalampuia would have been kept in the forward along with Branco and Barreto playing from a little deep, so that he could have delivered his passes to the striking pair. Naveen Kumar played for last 10 minutes and made quite a few centers down the right flank, but unfortunately Mariners could not score. Port Trust hardly got any chance to score thanks to Man of the Match Odafe.

The quality of referring and match officiating was in question as they did not do enough to stop the time wasting tactics of Port Trust.  Mohun Bagan officials have asked for outstation referees to officiate Kolkata league matches.

One can recall that a city club, always alleged to have enjoyed CRA’s favour,  breached the U-19 rule this year by playing without U-19 for about 7 minutes but the referees couldn’t  (or didn’t) do much about it and IFA still have not taken any action against this.

Kareem at the end of the match told that “The fact that we managed to create so many chances proves that we didn’t play too badly. I have to think about the positives and I am more or less happy with performance today.”

TEAM: Sangram, Habibur, Odafe, Vasan, Suman Bose (Naveen Kumar 78th), Malsawntluanga, James Singh Sr. (Lalramluaha 46th), James Singh Jr., Lalkamal, Lalampuiya (Branco 59th), Jose Barreto.

PICTURE COURTESY: SANGBAD PRATIDIN, ACHINTYA ROY

Academy celebrates its birth day ! Mohun Bagan Sail football Academy celebrated its 6th annual day today with pomp and style. The two day football festival ended on a bright note, St. Xaviers winning in the cl. 2 and cl. 3 categories while St. Michaels won the cl. 4 one. The children were ecstatic to recieve the trophies, awards and the football as prizes ! The day also happens to be the birthday of our club gen. Secretary, and thus two huge cakes were cut to celebrate the day. One for the academy and one for Mr. Anjan Mitra.

Mohun Bagan defeats Railway FC by 3-0. Tulunga scoring hattrick. Bagan continued to display brilliant football like first two matches. This is their third successive 3-0 victory. Mohun Bagan continued its spectacular performance by defeating Railway FC 3-0, this is the third successive match in which Mariners have scored three goals, this time Malswamtluanga scoring hattrick. Mohun Bagan striker Lalampuia missed an easy opportunity off corner when he headed the ball out on 4 minutes from a handshaking distance. Railway FC made few attacks and took few shots but none of them could cause any problem to Sangram and Odafe was as usual rock solid in defence.

At 16 minutes, Barreto got a ball inside box and trapped it beautifully but due to uneven bounce he could not trap the ball properly or head it inside the goal, a valiant effort indeed from the man. In 37th minute, Tulunga scored the first goal when he trapped the ball beautifully inside box off a gem of a pass from Barreto and cool headedly finished by lobing the ball over onrushing goalkeeper. This was the result off a brilliant attack when James Jr. had passed the ball to Barreto. Within minutes, Tulunga doubled his account when off a Lalkamal Bhowmick corner, Odafa headed beautifully which went straight to Tulunga who just tapped the ball inside goal, a great opportunistic goal indeed.

Mariners started 2nd half with same pace as attacked with pace. In 51st minute, off a Ishfaq corner, Lalampuia missed an easy chance off James pass. On 60th minute, Tulunga attacked from right side and almost scored but his shot was well saved by Rail goalkeeper. Kareem then made two quick changes bringing in Henry in place of Lalampuia and Branco in place of Ishfaq. With inclusion of Branco, Mohun Bagan gained momentum and off his brilliant pass from left side in 82nd minute, Tulunga got the ball inside box, trapped beautifully and finished off a thumping right footer, indeed the best goal of the match. In 84th minute, Naveen Kumar came in place of Odafa who was a little injured and Kareem took no chance. Naveen Kumar went to right back position and Habibur went to stopper. In 90th minute, Barreto almost had passed to Tulunga who could have scored his fourth goal but the ball was well intercepted by defender.

For Mariners, Sangram was brilliant like last two matches and he is oozing with confidence. Such was his confidence level that once he collected a ball off a shot of a Railway FC player almost in the height of the post, which any goalkeeper would have fisted the ball for corner. In defence, Odafa displayed supreme form and hardly made any mistake. However, Vasan was slightly off color today and he made many mistakes today. Suman was quite good today but Habibur was a little shaky. In midfield, Ishfaq and Tulunga performed their job to perfection and attacked nicely via the flanks. Junior James was in first team today since James Sr. showed off form in last match. Junior James was okay but have to improve a lot. Same goes for Lalkamal. Railway FC was easily attacking and reaching Bagan box, the blocking and tackling will have to improve in Bagan medio. Barreto as usual showed his class by some brilliant passes to his team mates. Lalampuia missed few chances but otherwise was okay. Branco is doing very well as substitute. Overall team Mohun Bagan is playing brilliant football and has got 9 points from 3 matches. They will play their next match on 22nd against CalcuttaPort Trust.

Meanwhile, NIIT has become cosponsor of McDowell Mohun Bagan football club and they will give 18 lakh for this KPL. MB players will use their logo in their sleeves and shorts.

TEAM: Sangram, Suman, Vashan, Odafa (Naveen Kumar 84), Habibur, Tulunga, James Singh Jr., Lalkamal, Ishfaq (Branco 75), Barreto, Lalampuia (Henry 69)