XtraTime Web Desk: Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan drew with Bengaluru FC to be crowned the I League winners for the first time on this day in 2014. A late strike from Nigerian Bello Rasaq sealed the fate for the Mariners.
The Kolkata giants had a slump following the National League title in 2001-02 season. The trophy cabinet was empty for the last few seasons with arch rivals East Bengal dominating the proceedings in Kolkata League. Repeated failures made the loyal fans of the club restless and lose patience. A failure in 2014 Kolkata League saw the club officials sacking coach Subash Bhowmick. Failure in the Kings’s Cup and Federation Cup drew a lot of flak from the supporters. Subhash Bhowmik was replaced by Sanjoy Sen ahead of the I League as the former veteran coach did not have the required license. The change of guard produced a watershed moment in the history of the national club as they finally turned the tide and went on to win their first ever I-league in 2014. The Kolkata outfit went into the all important match with 38 points from 19 matches while Bengaluru FC had 36 points from the same number of matches. Mariners required just a draw to lift the title while the home team were in a must win situation.
Bengaluru took an early lead through their foreign recruit John Johnson in the dying minutes of the first half. There were some tensed moments for the Mariners as the all important equalizer was not coming. Just as everyone thought the title was going to the Bangalore based club who were also making their maiden appearance in I League, a header from Bello Rasaq found the back of the net, silencing the home fans with two minutes of regulation time.
The Mariners fans went into frenzy as the trophy drought for thirteen long years eventually came to an end.