Everything worked as planned: Manoranjan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 30. East Bengal's maiden triumph of the National Football League title triggered wild celebrations among it's supporters who travelled all the way from Kolkata to watch their club's crucial match against State Bank of Travancore.

The 50-odd supporters cheered every move of their team from the gallery though it was shouted down by the roaring partisan crowd. However, soon after the final whistle the East Bengal fans gave their pent-up emotions by rushing on to the turf and hugged players and club officials making life difficult for the policemen on duty.

As the team did a victory lap around the stadium, the partisan crowd gave a standing ovation. A visibly relieved East Bengal coach, Manoranjan Bhattacharya, paid rich tributes to his boys, who he said, stuck to their task. The coach said he was tense through out the match and relaxed only after the second East Bengal goal.

``Our strategy was to dominate the midfield and deny SBT an early goal. Everything worked according to the way we had planned,'' he said.

Mr. Santosh Bhattacharya, the football secretary of East Bengal club, dedicated the victory to the late Deepak Kumar Das.

A crestfallen SBT coach Mohammed Najeeb said his team played well but was not good enough to stop East Bengal from winning.

Bengal celebrates

Our Kolkata Correspondent adds:

East Bengal club was agog with it's supporters well before the news of the title triumph reached the club. Around 500 supporters had thronged the club tent at `Maidan' here on Monday expecting the team to win it's last NFL match against SBT.

The cheers reached a crescendo as the news of the team's win reached the city. It had been a long wait for five years before the team succeeded in lifting the maiden title. The rejoicing broke all barriers as the supporters and the club officials got into the celebration exchanging customary greetings and distributing sweets.

An evening squall that hit the city could not dampen the spirit of the fans, who took the streets with the team colours red and yellow and lighted torches, which is the team emblem. Heading the celebrations were the club president Dr. Pronab Das Gupta and the secretary Dr. Dipak Chakraborty along with other officials. ``We dedicate this title to our late secretary Dipak (Paltu) Das who passed away late last month. It was his hardwork that fetched the glory and the players needed to be congratulated for fulfilling his dream,'' the president said. MOMENTOUS MOMENT: Fans join the East Bengal players in the celebrations after the club's maiden triumph in the National Football League in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

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