East Bengal wins, just about

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA, MARCH 24. It was, in many ways, not an happy outing for the leader, East Bengal, at the end of the day even though the team defeated Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), Bangalore by a solitary second-half goal in the National Football League match at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Saturday.

Playing its 15th match, East Bengal took its points tally to 34.

East Bengal's played a disjointed game despite having a major share in ball possession and forward movement. It not only missed some easy chances but also made things tougher for itself by failing to combine well. ITI looked cautious to start with, stitched together some good moves but lacked a good striker to do the finishing job.

The most striking part of the whole game was East Bengal's inability to score even after ITI was reduced to 10 players following the sending off of its captain, Dhanesh K.V., in the 61st minute. Dhanesh was booked in the first half for a foul on Dipendu Biswas and later for kicking goalkeeper Sangaram Mukherjee.

East Bengal should have gone ahead in the 14th minute after Sangaram Mukherjee made a hefty clearance. The ball sailed to Sheikh Sanjib in the attacking zone and the striker, instead of going for the kill thought it prudent to back pass to his onrushing colleagues. This resulted in the opposition regrouping and averting the danger. ITI could have come off by splitting the points but for the opportunism of Omolaja Olalekan. On receiving the ball on top of the penalty box with his back to the ITI goal, the striker turned quickly and fired a right-footer to the roof of the net.

At the fag end of the match, East Bengal earned a penalty kick after a lightning quick move by Isiaka Awoyemi and Omolaja. Isiaka, dispossessing an ITI player deep inside his own half, exchanged the ball with Omolaja to launch a move. Omolaja's deft through was enough for Isiaka to outrun a couple of ITI defenders and enter the penalty area. Balaji had no other option but to bring the striker down after Omolaja tried to side step him. The penalty was however, shot wide by Dipendu Biswas.

The standings at the end of Round XV (read as under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against and points): East Bengal: 15-10-4-1-19-4- 34; FC Kochin: 15-8-5-2-22-15-29; Mohun Bagan: 15-8-4-3-28-14-28; Salgaocar SC: 15-7-2-6-17-14-23; Vasco SC: 15- 5-8-2-9-10- 23; Churchill Brothers: 15-6-4-5-19-15-22; ITI: 15-3- 6-6-8-10-15; Air India: 15- 3-5-7-18-22-14; Tollygunge Agragami: 15-2-8-5-7-12- 14; Mahindra United: 15-3-5-7-8-17-14; SBT: 15-2-6-7-16-29-12; JCT: 15-1-7-7-8-17-10.

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Section  : Sport
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