East feast at Durand Cup

It wasnt exactly dull until then,but once sixteen-time trophy holders and Indian football giants East Bengal stepped onto the field at the Ambedkar Stadium.

It wasnt exactly dull until then,but once sixteen-time trophy holders and Indian football giants East Bengal stepped onto the field at the Ambedkar Stadium,the atmosphere was electrifying,to say the least. Flags,roars and sound and the odd vuvuzela thundered the arena as the Kolkatan side thrashed Air India 4-1 in the group stages of the Durand Cup on Saturday. More than the four exquisite goals that they scored,much to the happiness of the fans,East Bengals Australian striker Tolgay Ozbey and his inexplicable ability to speed up the game was a delight for the spectators. He scored a brace,and provided/created the remaining to show the Mumbai airliners the exit door,from the tournament.

It didnt look that way in the beginning as Air India pushed the accelerator and controlled the ball,constantly penetrating the East Bengal territory. Soon,they drew first blood against the stronger side when Yusuf Ibrahim Tijani landed the ball in the back of the net in the 12th minute. It worked as a wake up call for East Bengal,as they soon found their rhythm and after several scintillating attacking moves,Ozbey headed in a low cross from a Mehtab Hossain corner in the 42nd minute. And after that,East Bengal never looked back.

It was a nightmare of a second half for Air India,but the fans in the stands didnt care about the lopsided match,as the Kolkata club provided what they had come for: dominating football. Air India had no options other than to protect their goal from the frequent attacks but that didnt stop Ozbey from completing his brace.

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But the dynamics of the group stages were such that East Bengal needed to win by a margin of at least two goals because Salgaocar had inflicted a 3-1 win over Air India. With the clock running down to single digits,East Bengal needed a third desperately. That was when their striker Robin Singh stepped it up. Although his view was completely blocked by the charging goalie,Robin managed to tap one backwards to substitute Ekene Ekenewa,who drilled it past the out-of-position custodian to achieve what they needed in the 89th minute. But although Bengal could have sat back and defended the lead,East Bengal did what they do best,finish the job off with a fourth. Penn sent a swirling right footer in the far corner of the net and EB were on their way.

The first match of the day,between Sporting Clube de Goa and JCT Phagwara ended in favour of the side from Punjab. Although they defeated the Goans 3-0,the gameplay was no reflection of the scoreline. After a harmless first session,both teams remained locked at 0-0 until the 80th minute,when JCT woke the sleeping spectators up when Bidemi Ayeni Daniel headed one in from a corner. Just three minutes after the first goal,Daniel doubled the lead when Sporting goalie Felix DSouza fumbled the ball into the net. Ajay Singh then put an end to the proceedings by heading in a low corner cross with a full length dive in the 86th minute.