East Bengal unimpressive in opening match

Out of the blue, there came up that unmistakable red-and-gold flag of East Bengal on one of the railings. The work of a hopeful fan, probably with the aim of stirring up his team at the end of an uninspiring half of their Durand Cup quarter final league match.

Out of the blue, there came up that unmistakable red-and-gold flag of East Bengal on one of the railings. The work of a hopeful fan, probably with the aim of stirring up his team at the end of an uninspiring half of their Durand Cup quarter final league match.

Dipankar Roy got a little too inspired, maybe, for within a couple of minutes of the start of the second half, he managed to get himself sent off – after clattering Dempo FC’s Clifford Miranda from behind.

A first half, where both teams played with a defensive mindset, hardly had any open play or clear chances. In the second half, with their man-advantage, Dempo tried to capitalise, but the East Bengal defence and keeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar stood firm.

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The best chance for the Goan club came in the 57th minute, for captain Robert Silva. Jerry Zirsanga sent a great through from the right flank, but Silva, in clear view of goal, couldn’t connect. Four minutes later, Zirsanga was back, creating problems, with a pass sent through the centre to Anthony Perreira inside the box.

Perreira’s header was parried by the East Bengal keeper Dastidar. Valeriano Rebelo’s shot off the rebound then sailed just over. East Bengal’s attack had its moments as well – the best chance coming to substitute Vimal Pariyar in the 67th minute. Pariyar managed to dodge the defence, but then failed to make anything out of skipper Chandan Das’ pass clear from the centre.

A moral victory, maybe, for 10-man East Bengal, but Dempo coach Armando Colaco felt otherwise. “Starting out, we wanted to make sure we don’t start with a defeat. In the second half we went all out. We obviously missed getting a goal, but created good chances, so that is a positive.”

The second match of the day — between defending champions Army XI and JCT Mills — seemed to start off from where the first ended. The children sitting in the top corner of the stands towards Ferozeshah Kotla had probably had enough – choosing instead to lean over and watch the proceedings on the other side.

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A drab first half that looked more like kick-about practice session might have led to an earful by the two coaches, for the second did show some promise. N Guernilal had managed to attract some glances with his play in last month’s Santosh Trophy for Services. In the red of Army XI today, he ran and ran, but his midfield failed to conjure up anything worthwhile for him.

For JCT, the season’s new recruit Edeh Chidi found space and created some good chances, but mostly failed to find anyone to finish. Harish Sharma replaced Sunday Ambrose in the 70th minute and was impressive, but maybe it was just not the day for goals.