The Hindu : Sport / Football : Chandan Das stars in East Bengal's triumph

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Thursday, Nov 11, 2004

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Chandan Das stars in East Bengal's triumph

By Our Special Correspondent

East Bengal skipper Chandan Das (right) celebrates one of his two goals as team-mates (from left) Akshay Das, Earnest Jeremiah and Madhab Das rush in to congratulate, in the Durand Cup final against Mohun Bagan on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI, NOV. 10. East Bengal scored all the goals in the match. Yet, it earned the 2-1 victory the hard way in the final of the Durand Cup football tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Wednesday.

Chandan Das rattled Mohun Bagan with a 24th minute penalty but the advantage was nullified when Douglas Santos back-headed the ball into his own goal. Chandan Das dealt the crippling blow in injury time with a spectacular strike.

The contest lacked the fireworks and the players made matters worse when they indulged in an ugly incident, pushing, jostling, and finally punching each other. The referee, P.K. Bose, with his slack supervision, was partly responsible for the players holding up play with their deplorable behaviour. As indiscipline spread on the field, Mr. Bose watched helplessly.

With Bagan trailing by a goal, a tussle for the ball between Noel Wilson and East Bengal striker Earnest Jeremiah led to a minor scuffle and there was little to relish from what one saw. Players went after each other and it reached its worst point when the players showed scant respect to the referee and only displayed their frustration and pent-up anger against each other.

Bagan goalkeeper, Subrata Pal, sprinted from his position to push Earnest Jeremiah and there was mayhem when veteran East Bengal defender Debjit Ghosh also joined the act. For his unsportsmanlike behavior, Pal was just only given a yellow card by Sen!

It took a while for the game to resume but the incident remained an eye sore. Two top clubs of the country had set a poor example with their insipid football and onfield behaviour.

"Our contests hardly produce good soccer. There is so much at stake and so much tension," admitted Debjit, who, otherwise, gave a stellar show, his experience showing the way. Also consistently good was goalkeeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar.

The presence of coach Subhash Bhowmick was inspiring for a team that was hit by injuries. East Bengal overcame the hurdles to record a victory that was dedicated to Sasthi Duley and Dipankar Roy, just been released on bail for their alleged involvement in shielding a criminal.

Tentative & defensive

The teams were tentative and defensive as the occasion was big and openings rare. Madhab Das, outstanding in the defence, reduced Bagan striker James to a spectator before the Nigerian was eventually pulled out. The job of policing Jeremiah was left to Eduwardo and he was not found wanting either. The marking of men was perfect and anticipation flawless.

Slowly the game opened up when East Bengal shed its defensive attitude and forced a brilliant counter attack. From a flag-kick melee, Basudeb hacked down Alvito and a penalty was an appropriate punishment for the offence. Chandan drove the ball hard and low to the goalkeeper's right.

As the pace of the contest increased, so did the tempers. Twice Dharamjit Singh was presented with scoring opportunities but he was awry. Rightly, he was substituted. Bagan suffered a blow when Eduwardo limped off after hurting an ankle. The first half ended with Bagan, the favourite, in arrears.

Bagan pressed hard, East Bengal defended dourly and the game deteriorated as time became the key factor. A silly mistake fetched the reliable Madhab Das his second yellow with 20 minutes to go when he tripped Sunil Chetri.

With East Bengal reduced to 10 men, Bagan became desperate and got a lifeline with a bizarre equaliser. An innocuous long free kick by Wilson was headed into his own goal by Douglas. East Bengal was broken but Bhowmick had hopes. Jeremiah was his man.

"I just prayed for Jeremiah to get the ball once more near the goal. I knew he could do it. We had to do it," the East Bengal coach said.

And Jeremiah it was who made the decisive run in injury time. With two defenders hustling him, he found space to put the ball in Climax Lawrence's custody. Unable to find an angle, Lawrence, showing exemplary presence of mind, relayed the ball for an overlapping Chandan.

The goalkeeper's focus had to shift suddenly from right to left and Das, in a stunning act on the run, produced a stinging drive into the far corner. It was a dream finish to the best move of the match.

After the long whistle, East Bengal celebrated while Mohun Bagan, which dominated and enjoyed far more chances, sulked. Debjit walked up to the rival camp to try and bury the unpleasantness. But the contrived hugs and handshakes failed to mask the bitterness for each other. To confirm, Bagan stayed away from the presentation ceremony.

The teams:

East Bengal: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Akshay Das (Bijen Singh), Debjit Singh, Selwyn Fernandes (Climax Lawrence), Madhab Das, Habibur Rehman Mondal, Douglas Santos, Chandan Das, S. Malsawmtlunga, Earnest Jeremiah and Alvito D'Cunha.

Mohun Bagan: Subrata Pal, Rishi Kapoor, Eduwardo Chacoa (Tomba Singh), Dulal Biswas, Manitombi Singh, Basudeb Mondal, Noel Wilson, Dharamjit Singh (Jerry Zirsanga), Mehtab Hossain, James Agbougwa (Asim Biswas) and Sunil Chetri.

Referee: Mr. P.K. Bose. Linesmen: Messrs M.K. Roy and A. Arjunan.

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