E Bengal spoil BMFC debut

Although BMFC ended as the losing side, their early game gave hints of an upset. In fact, had Abdul Khaleque not missed three good chances in the first 20 minutes, the professional club from Mumbai might well have been celebrating their first victory.

However, once East Bengal got their first goal in the 33rd minute, the game changed. It was again Dipendu Biswas, surging ahead of Bhaichung Bhutia to score his third goal of the tournament. The move started with a Carlton Chapman run down the left flank. The swift midfielder put another brilliant ball player Tushar Rakshit free through the middle. Rakshit, in turn, pierced the BMFC defence with a pass right through the centre. Both Bhutia as well as Biswas were on it in a flash. Bhutia just trapped the ball and Biswas came charging to score.

Five minutes later, Biswas added the second under strange conditions. A Tushar Rakshit free-kick from the top of the box hit the wall and ballooned towards the BMFC goal. Biswas collected it and his shot stunned BMFC goalkeeper Gumpe Rima, who moved well after the ball had hit the back of the net.

BMFC got one back in the 50th minute through a spot-kick. Abdul Khaleque was broken through the East Bengal defence and was well in position to score inside the box when East Bengal defender Arpan Dey felled him. Emeka Achilefu converted the spot-kick to infuse life into the game.

The high humidity had already drained the players and the game had slowed down considerably in the second half. Yet East Bengal continued to make sporadic attacks at the BMFC goal. They finally got their third in the 82nd minute through substitute Saroj Das.