The Hindu : Sport / Football : Mizoram's tough tactics fail to stop Bengal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 19, 2004

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Sport - Football

Mizoram's tough tactics fail to stop Bengal

By Vijay Lokapally

NEW DELHI, OCT. 18. It was quite an interesting contest. Bengal players concentrated more on avoiding body contact with the aggressive Mizoram boys even as they recorded a 5-1 victory in their opening Cluster I match of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy here on Monday.

Bengal coach Syed Naeemuddin's constant command from the bench was "don't hang on to the ball needlessly." He was effectively trying to protect his key players from getting injured as the game got rough and deteriorated in the second half to an extent that there were more hold-ups on account of fouls than actual play. The referee, Bharat Mani, ought to have been stricter.

"We need a fair game. Ball players have to be protected (from foul play). We believe in playing the ball," said Naeemuddin, looking satisfied with his team's overall performance at the Nehru Stadium warm-up ground.

There was never any doubt about Bengal's supremacy on the turf but Mizoram indulged in rough play far too frequently. It took Bengal quite a while to slot in the first goal, but once the opening was made there was no stopping the skilful combination, which saw Mehtab Hossain in outstanding form.

A superb one-touch player, Mehtab was the central figure in Bengal's attacking play and he produced some stunning moves with the support of Noel Wilson, Amit Das and Basudeb Mondal. Without exerting strain, the Bengal team displayed tactical finesse in the midfield and then left the stage for Mehtab, Dipendu Biswas and the hard-working Rahim Nabi to complete the job.

Ominous signs

Going by the performance by Mehtab, the Bengal coach would have little to worry about upfront. He had a hand in all the goals that came his team's way. Mehtab began by receiving a Basudeb diagonal pass and sending a cross for Nabi to trap and find the net in a flash. The signs were ominous even though Bengal had to wait for the second half to establish its dominance.

The second half saw Bengal earn rewards for their imaginative moves. Mehtab showed the way in a breakaway attack when his angular shot was deflected into the goal by defender Lalniliama.

The next goal was a brilliant finish off a Mehtab move when Dipendu controlled the ball, dodged past a defender and stunned the goalkeeper with a crafty left-footer.

Bengal continued to pound the Mizoram citadel and this time Nabi did the hard work with Mehtab, for a change, required to just tap the ball in.

It was at this stage that the Mizoram players inexplicably charged at every opponent and it was hardly surprising when F. Lalmawizuala brought Mehtab down.

The Mizo defender left the field following a second yellow card and Mehtab converted the penalty. The Bengal camp took things easy and Mizoram scored from a free kick by Lalruatsanga.

The long whistle came as a huge relief to the Bengal coach and he summed it up nicely "it was a good first match. We gave our best."

Railways in last eight

Railways completed its Cluster III engagements with a goalless draw against Chandigarh at the same venue and grabbed a quarterfinal berth.

Sikkim became the second team to make it to the next stage with a hard-earned 4-3 win against Pondicherry at the Chhattrasal Stadium. Murugan scored twice to put Pondicherry ahead but Sikkim hit back through Sisil Karthak, Tashi Rapden and Kamal Badgdis. The contest livened up when Murugan scored his third goal but Sikkim settled the issue two minutes from the end through T. Ongtsaring Lapcha.

In Cluster VIII, Tamil Nadu began on a winning note at the Chhattrasal Stadium with a 4-0 margin against Nagaland. K. Kulothungan contributed the first two goals while M. Jegan and P. Muthu completed the tally.

In a Cluster III match, Bihar overcame Uttaranchal 3-2. Bablu Kumar Yadav, Raksh Prakash Singh and Manmohan Kumar Singh scored for Bihar while Bir Singh netted twice for the losing team.

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