The Hindu : Sport / Football : East Bengal stays on course for hat-trick

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Wednesday, Feb 02, 2005

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Sport - Football

East Bengal stays on course for hat-trick

By Our Special Correspondent

KOZHIKODE, FEB. 1. Kolkata powerhouse East Bengal stayed on course for a hat-trick of NFL titles with a splendid 4-2 win over State Bank of Travancore here on Tuesday.

The much-awaited encounter at the renovated Corporation stadium had a sedate start. But as the match progressed, it turned into an exciting battle and the Bank side even raised visions of sharing honours with East Bengal by wiping out its arrears for the second time.

However, the Bengal outfit underlined its supremacy with two more goals, taking full advantage of its inexperienced rival's failure to piece together a basic defensive formation while going all out to attack. In fact, the common theme in both sessions was the defensive lapse of the Bank team.

After an aggressive start, SBT was forced to pay heavily when a quick counter, engineered by the peerless Baichung Bhutia, resulted in an unmarked Climax Lawrence finding the net with a straightforward shot from the top of the box. The Bank side, however, quickly restored parity off a flag kick.

Pradeep's shot, which curled in, was `handled' by East Bengal defender Habibur Rahman Mondal and Goan referee Benjamin Silva immediately pointed to the spot. The penalty was converted by Pradeep as he shot to the left of custodian Rajat Ghosh Dastidar.

Costly error

Buoyed by this success, it was the Bank team which enjoyed a major share of the exchanges. However, another defensive error cost it dearly and Lawrence scored again, this time after a Chandan Das free-kick was initially deflected by Bank goalkeeper Harshal Rahman. Anticipating that the rival defence would be slow in clearing the ball, Lawrence slotted the deflection home.

Ten minutes into the second half, SBT brought in pocket dynamo Asif Saheer for Mohammed Rafi. Within minutes, the pint-sized forward spread panic among the rival defence.

He first came up with a brilliant volley off a pass from the right and another off an opening created from the opposite end.

However, Saheer's stay in the middle was cut short when he was red-carded while attempting a dangerous back-flip near the East Bengal goal.

Reduced to 10, SBT was still able to equalise when a combined move from the left ended with Lanel Thomas knocking the ball past Dastidar.

Suddenly there was a match on, but East Bengal — thanks to Bhutia and his two goals — went on to register its third win in five matches.

Bhutia's first goal was on the second attempt after Harshal thwarted his initial try. His second, during injury time, was a typically opportunistic effort.

The Bank team, with three losses out of five matches, takes on Agragami here on Feb. 6.

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