The Hindu : Sport / Football : Dudu strike sends East Bengal packing

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Wednesday, Dec 01, 2004

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Sport - Football

Dudu strike sends East Bengal packing

By Avinash Nair

BANGALORE, NOV. 30. Nigerian Macpherlin Dudu struck two minutes from time for Sporting Club de Goa and sent East Bengal packing in the Federation Cup football tournament. Earlier Mohun Bagan scored a 4-1 win over Jagjit Cotton Textiles (JCT), Phagwara.

East Bengal looked listless barring a few searching runs by Alvito D'Cunha and Paulo Da Silva. Sporting Club played well within itself.In the 88th minute, Bengal'sJoseph Periera floated a cross from the left and Dudu, the captain of the side, headed home the all-important goal.

Roberto Mendes Silva, the Brazilian striker scored a brace as Mohun Bagan registered a facile 4-1 win over JCT.

If the Phagwara men remained in a limbo for most of the first half, Bagan made its intentions clear quite early in the match. The little aberration that remained in the Bagan midfield in the form of an off-colour captain Ashim Biswas was soon corrected by coach Subrata Bhattacharya, bringing in Rishi Kapoor to strengthen the backline and move Mehtab Hussein into the middle. And this move lent the sting to the Bagan sorties.

After JCT medio Bimal Barua did stifle a gasp with a long ranger that sailed inches wide off the near post, it was Bagan all the way. In the 29th minute Roberto Silva in an attempt to get past his marker Julius Akpele was baulked and without battling an eyelid essayed a shot goalwards and much to his surprise the ball was misjudged by JCT goalkeeper Ajani Ayoade Ibrahim as it landed in the net.

Spurred by the lead Bagan attacked and a minute before half time whistle Sunil Chettri headed home a Tomba Singh cross from the right. Bagan could have gone into the break with a 3-0 lead but it was not to be as Roberto Silva frittered away a `penalty'.

Referee P. Bhaskar (TN) pointed to the `spot' when Jerry Zirsanga, the ebullient playmaker who had a good outing, was brought down inside the box by Harpreet Singh but the resultant effort from the spot by Silva came off the upright and Jerry running in only managed to balloon the ball.

Put through by Charanjit, Jaswinder advanced a few paces and chipped into the goal area only to see the ball loop off a defender and over an unsure Subrata Paul, who had advanced from his charge.

The goal stung Bagan which not only steadied its defence but also initiated a few threatening moves to rattle the JCT goal. In the 78th minute Dulal Biswas on the run shot following a long cross from Tomba Singh brooked no resistance as the ball bulged the net from 30 yards out and minutes before the whistle Roberto Silva left footed a cross from Basudeb Mondal, which caught the JCT defence and goalkeeper Ajani Ibrahim by surprise.

Bagan and Sporting Club clash in the second semifinal on December 3.

There is no match at this venue on December 1 and 2.

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