Barasat: Mohun Bagan starts their Hero I-League 2017 campaign in an emphatic fashion against an “all Indian” Churchill Brothers side on Sunday at the Barasat Stadium. The Federation Cup champions took the lead in the 28th minute when “come back man” Balwant Singh scored a brilliant goal with a delightful header from a sublime cross by Pritam Kotal, leaving goalkeeper Priyant Singh as a mere spectator.
The Goan side was in dearth of a positive striker in the first half as the majority of their attacks were stumbling in front of the Mohun Bagan back four. Mohun Bagan too was having some problems to test the Churchill custodian in the first 25 minutes as Adil Khan and Rowilson Rodrigues stood like a rock in the central defence.
The first chance came in the 23rd minute as an acrobatic Priyant Singh stopped a surging solo run by Daryl Duffy. Mohun Bagan got another golden opportunity in the 35th minute when Duffy got a superb flicked ball from Katsumi but his side volley was nicely gathered by the Churchill custodian. A combative Sehnaj Singh was booked in the 43rd minute after a rash tackle on Jenslie at the halfway of the pitch. But despite the outright dominance, the Mariners failed to extend their lead in the first half.
Mohun Bagan’s U22 player Subhasish Bose, who had a decent first half, was booked in the early minutes of the second half for an ugly tackle on Brendon. In the second half, Bagan had the first goal bound move in the 58th minute when Sehnaj’s long range effort went just wide. Souvik Chakraborty had an outstanding game, got a fine chance in the 62nd minute, when his attempt went inches wide of the first post after Katsumi made a gorgeous run from the left.
Bagan were down to 10 men when U22 player Subhasish Bose made a needless challenge on Sheriton to get the marching orders after receiving the second yellow in the 65th minute. The Red card forced Mariners’ coach Sanjoy Sen to sacrifice Kean Lewis in the expense of a defensive Prabir Das. Goalscorer Balwant Singh too taken off as the Bagan gaffer brought in Pronoy Halder to strengthen the defence. Later Daryl Duffy too was substituted to bring in Bikramjit Singh as a cushion in front of the back four.
Churchill started to put pressure on the Bagan defense after they got the numerical supremacy. But a potent centre forward let them down time and again. The combination of Agnelo, Brendon and Kingsley continued to put the opposition defence trembling. Agnelo Colaco’s injury time effort was perhaps the closest the Goan side came to score in this game as his powerful right footer came off the cross bar.
The three points, Balwant’s goal will certainly please the Mariners’ coach but the performance particularly in the second half would certainly present some anxiety before playing their next game in the Hero I-League.