Barreto capitalises on a defensive lapse to secure full points

A 20,000-strong Bagan crowd today partied hard in the stands and then inside the ground after the long whistle. But George stole the show with their creative style of play.

Except for first 10 minutes, they controlled the show.

They created moves from defensive-third, enjoyed a greater ball possession, controlled the midfield and put pressure on their more fancied rival with some brilliant off-the-ball play. Coach Raghu Nandy told his boys to play free football. The George players, led by Man of the Match Subho Kumar responded very well.

Still they returned empty-handed because their strikers, Pradip Roy and Francis Maduako were wayward. They had a couple of sitters, in the 46th minute and then 10 minutes later. The strikers hit wide.

Poor refereeing didn8217;t help their cause either. Referee Rathin Mukherjee and his assistant Kashinath Sen often deprived them of justice. Also, the Bagan centrebacks Peter Odafe and Dipak Mondal kept a tight vigil on the play-maker Free Bourne to ensure safety.

George, however, are certain to finish fourth, which will allow them to play in the I-League qualifiers.

Meanwhile, Bagan midfielder Isfaq Ahmed, who came as a substitute, was red-carded for hitting the referee.