Chennai, April 4: The Goans were left gaping in disbelief, like strangers in a city of skyscrapers, as mighty Bengal steamrollered to an overwhelming 5-0 victory in the final of the Bharat Petroleum 55th Santosh Trophy Football tournament here today.The win gave Bengal their 29th title, sixth in a row, and earned them Rs 2.5 lakh as prize money. It also helped Sudip Chatterjee complete a hat-trick of triumphs as coach of the state side. ``I was confident of a victory. But such a marvellous win was beyond my wildest imaginations,'' confessed a beaming Sudip. ``I have nothing to say. My boys have done the talking,'' added Sankar Banerjee, joint coach of Bengal.Basudev Mandal (11), Bhaichung Bhutia (49), Carlton Chapman (54), Raman Vijayan (65) and Dipendu Biswas (73rd minute penalty) scored.The Goans fumbled too often. Their strikers were ponderous in movement, imprecise in execution and almost devoid of guile. Their slowness of movement and in release of the ball let their seasoned rivals funnel backto defensive positions. The one good Goan move, in the first 10 minutes, ended with Somatai Shaiza hitting the woodwork from the heart of the box with a rising shot.Bengal settled down quickly, moving the ball well along the ground with a mixture of the deep and shallow diagonals in the midfield, and with the linkmen swapping positions. Debjit was firm as a defensive linkman in front of his stoppers while Chapman and Basudev Mondal frequently flitted into spaces behind rivals.Debjit put Chapman clear on the right with a clinical through pass in the 11th, to initiate Bengal's early lead. Chapman floated in a perfectly timed cross, as Bhutia got behind Robert Fernandes and lunged for a headed pass to Basudev, left unmarked just outside the box. With an extrasensory quickness of thought, Basudev, the flyweight in the Bengal halfline, volleyed the ball home with his ferocious left foot.Bengal then slammed in goals at will, exploiting the yawning gaps in the Goan deep defence. A demoralised Juje Siddiunder the crosspiece made things easier for them. Bhutia climaxed a combined move with Raman Vijayan, driving home after Siddi let the ball bounce off his hands.Chapman made it 3-0, unleashing a curling volley from 25 yards, after Basudev hit the crosspiece from the top of the box with a rising shot.Goal number four was a treat for the eyes, a lunging header by Raman Vijayan who met a Falguni cross from the right touchline, with perfect timing. Dipendu Biswas' spot-kick earned Bengal their fifth goal in the 73rd. The kick was awarded after Siddi's crunching foul brought down an onrushing Bhutia inside the penalty area.HONOURS FOR BRUNO, PASHA: Goa's Bruno Coutinho, adjudged the man of the tournament, received a cheque of Rs 1 lakh. Tamil Nadu's Sabir Pasha, who emerged the top-scorer with nine goals, and Prasanta Dora (Bengal), who won the best goalkeeper award, were presented cash awards worth Rs 50,000 each. The Fair Play Trophy was shared by Manipur and Karnataka.
