`Golden boy’ Prakash does it for Bagan

In an absorbing match, Mahindra’s fought hard till the very end. But their defence which had brilliantly marked the dangerous Bagan forward line lowered their guard once they took the lead. Bagan forwards capitalised on this mounting tremendous pressure and finally found the equaliser.

The fast paced match in front of a near capacity Ambedkar Stadium crowd who passionately backed the Calcutta side was an even tussle in the first 45 minutes. In the sixth minute Barretto went down inside the box and the refree signalled goalkick but the crowd roared thinking he had awarded a penalty kick to Bagan.

Though the trio of Barretto, Santos and Prakash tried their best to unsettle the Mahindra defence, Christopher, Naushad Moosa and Ramesh Razzak allowed them little breathing space.

Still Santos managed a few shots at the Mahindra goal. In the 22nd minute he received the ball from near the centre circle. With a quick turn, he sped into the danger area and found Prakash who wasted the chance. In the next minute, he gave Prakash another chance but this time his shot was wide.

Play was inside the Mahindra half for a considerable period of time near the break. But Moosa who marked Barretto, Ramesh who shadowed Prakash and Christopher who took care of Santos did their job to perfection to tie the three down.

The Mahindra attack once again revolved around Manjit Singh and Rizvi but the arrival of Khalid Siddique added a new thrust on the left wing.

They earned a few flag kicks but could not do much. Towards the end of the first half they earned a freekick and the ball came to Venkatesh who was positioned well inside the box. But his powerful shot lacked direction.

After the break, Mahindra changed gear to regain the initiative which they lost towards the end of the first half. In the 59th minute they earned a corner kick and this resulted in a free kick.

Five minutes later came the goal that stunned the crowd through another freekick that was awarded for Amitava Chandra’s handball. Aqueel Ansari’s superb floater came nicely to an unmarked Rizvi who headed it in.

Twenty-six minutes to go for the final whistle, Bagan quickly replaced Chandra with Amar Ganguly and that was a master stroke from the Bagan coach.

Another 10 minutes passed and Bagan were now pressing hard. James Singh, who came in for Basudeb Mondal, passed the ball to Amar who relayed it to Santos. Though Santos dribbled past two defenders the angle became acute and his try went out near the right post.

A few minutes later Barretto tried to move in but the defence shadowed him closely. Frustrated, he vented his anger against linesman SM Balu and got a yellow card. The volatile crowd, however, booed the booking and plastic bottles came flying down, which was kicked by the player towards Balu.

More bottles landed on the turf and play was suspended for three minutes. Barretto however was very lucky to escape the red card.Immediately on resumption, Santos’ powerful header off a James Singh pass hit the post and went out of danger. The equaliser came in the very next minute when Santos found Amar Ganguly near the box. An unmarked Amar drew the keeper out and placed the ball in the net to make it 1-1.

The Mahindra defence was now totally shaken and it seemed as if Bagan would score any moment to clinch the issue. Off the hook Santos attacked through the right and Barretto through the left. Three minutes of injury time was added and Barretto had a chance during the closing stages but he only managed a wild shot.

The extra time started and ended in a flash with RC Prakash’s golden goal. Though Mahindra tried to fashion a move it was promptly cleared.Before the Mahindra defence settled down, Santos, who moved in through the right, passed to amar near the box. Amar went inside the box and found Prakash. The stocky forward dribbled past two defenders and his shot went in to the left post to make it 2-1.

The golden goal victory earned Mohun Bagan Rs. 4 lakh, while Mahindra United got Rs two lakh.