Kolkata: Mohun Bagan rally to beat George Telegraph 4-0 in their second CFL match today in the Mohun Bagan ground. Prabir Das (18′, 37′) scored a brace while Darryl Duffy (61′) and Saran Singh (86′) scored one each for the Bagan.
Mohun Bagan took the upper hand from the opening minutes of the match and had the control over the game for almost the regulation time of 90 minutes. It was believed that George Telegraph will have a grip over the match as the muddy and wet outfield but it was different as young Bagan players utilised the conditions well.
Prabir Das in a more advanced role opened the scoring with an inch-perfect header from a curling Tapan Maity cross. It was the same combination yet again but this time from a flag-kick. Maity’s corner was delivered straight to Prabir who seamlessly beat his marker to find the back of the net.
In a moment of misfortune, Sarthak Golui’s long throw-in was erroneously met by Gurpreet’s hand inside the box and the Federation Cup champions had a penalty shot.
Darryl Duffy brought up his 46th goal in Indian soil with a scare as goalkeeper Laltu had saved the initial shot but the former Salgaocar man deposited the ball inside the net on the rebound.
Thangjam Saran Singh, another former Salgaocar player who was on debut at Bagan scored a screamer as the crowd went into a frenzy. Prabir Das’ backpass was hit with force from range by the Manipuri lad. The ball first hit the crossbar and then went inside the net, rounding off a 4-0 thrashing.
Mohun Bagan move to second on the table with six points, behing Tollygunge Agragami who have seven; though Shankarlal Chakraborty’s men have a game in hand. East Bengal are tied with the same number of points but have a lower goal difference (+3) than Bagan (+8). Mohun Bagan next face Southern Samity on Sunday.
Poket Dynamo, Prabir Das said, “Mohun Bagan is India’s champion club and we played like champions. We deserve this victory and if we keep on playing like this, we will definitely do well in the CFL.”
Prabir also thanked Sanjoy Sen for his success and mentioned, “Sanjoy sir has helped me grow in confidence in the last season by introducing me in the last 5-10 mins. I did not go for a hattrick because Duffy is an experienced customer and for me team’s victory is much more important.” Prabir also thanked his wife for his goals in the last two matches as they met in Mohun Bagan ground.
Darryl Duffy said, “Its good that I am getting goals but the important part is the team winning. The outfield is getting worser day by day due to this rain which is getting difficult to play on.” On Prabir Das the Scottish striker said, “He is playing some terrific football. The goals were beautiful to watch.”
Shankarlal Chakraborty said, “Those who say Bengali footballers are losing their path in Indian contingent, players like Prabir Das comes along to prove them wrong. I am proud of Prabir Das.”