30/10/2015
Chittagong Abahani script perfect final
Hosts Chittagong Abahani clinched the inaugural Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup title in style after coming back from a goal down to beat East Bengal 3-1 in a pulsating final at the MA Aziz Stadium yesterday. The port city team, which hosted this tournament as part of its grand design to rebuild the side as one of the strongest football clubs in the country, lifted its first major silverware as well as exacted a sweet revenge for its opening match defeat against the Kolkata giants, who were the only unbeaten side ahead of the final.
It was a victory worthy of all the glory as the hosts played some wonderful football last night, having gone from strength to strength since that early defeat, enthralling the football-lovers of the port city as well as those across the country. The persistent rain earlier in the day hardly put a damper on the spirit of the Chittagong fans, who turned up in large numbers and packed the stadium to the rafters.
Whether due to the huge turnout or the final-day nerves, the hosts started the game shakily and made mistakes in initial exchanges, allowing the opposition to control the midfield which was nicely operated by East Bengal midfield marshal Anthoni Saren.
However the hosts launched the first attack and should have taken the lead in the tenth minute when Eleta Kingsley, the eventual top-scorer and most valuable player of the tournament, provided a wonderful cross for Mithun Chowdhury, who headed wide from inside six-yard box.
But the Kolkata giants soon silenced the home crowd when Avinabo Bag's shot from just outside the box took a wicked deflection off the head of Rezaul Karim and nestled inside the top left corner of the near post, giving goalkeeper Rasel Mahmud Liton no chance.
East Bengal dominated the midfield brilliantly and almost doubled the lead in the 27th minute, only to be denied by right-back Sohel Rana, who headed Mohammad Rafique's header off the goalline.
The scenario, however, changed dramatically after the half-hour mark as the hosts exposed East Bengal's vulnerability down the wings. Hemanta Vincent Biswas sent his effort wide before Sohel saw his follow-up miss the far post in the 35th minute.
With the first half entering additional time, Chittagong Abahani brought themselves back into the game, thanks to a brilliant cross from Mithun, which was nodded in by a glancing header from Kingsley.
The hosts lorded over their opposition in the early part of the second half and took the lead when Kingley tucked in a low cross from Zahid Hossain in the 54th minute, taking his tally for the tournament to five goals. Hemanta then killed off the contest just three minutes later with a towering header as the East Bengal defence all looked at sea.
The comfortable lead allowed the hosts to sit back and defend, which their defenders and goalkeeper managed to do successfully, albeit surviving some scary moments to extend East Bengal's jinx on Bangladesh soil.
The Daily Star
