Kolkata , December 09 : A brace from Nikhil Pujari helped Kingfisher East Bengal get past Army XI in a practice match at the Sailen Manna stadium in Howrah . Pujari scored two goals in each half . It was the Army side who dominated the proceedings . East Bengal custodian Dibyendu Sarkar was outstanding under the bars as he thwarted three golden chances for Army to score . Kingfisher East Bengal took the lead mid way into the first half through Nikhil who headed a ball home off a Samad cross from the right . At half time Nikhil’s goal separated the two sides . East Bengal coach Biswajit Bhattacharya tried Korean footballer Du Dong Hyun in the second half . Hyun , still recovering from a injury to his left knee , he sustained during the first match of Sk Kamal International tournament in Chittagong was circumspect in his approach . Understandably so as this was the Korean’s first match after being out for almost a month . East Bengal stretched their lead through Nikhil Pujari in a similar fashion . The former Air India side back ,who is under trial scored his second goal from a cross by Subhojit Majumder . Both foreigners Ranty Martins and Bello Rassaq was totally off-colour and it is bound to give coach Biswajit Bhattacharya some sleepless nights ahead . The Army footballers were constantly targetting Bello in defence . Coach Biswajit Bhattacharya was happy with the performance of Pujari as was quite impressed with his hardwork on the field . The club will be playing a few more practice matches before the ISL footballers join the squad .
