Mohun Bagan moves into final

CALCUTTA, JULY 8. Mohun Bagan had to bank on the Brazilian flair in its striker Jose Rameirez Barreto to defeat the enterprising Mohammedan Sporting and set a derby clash with rival Kingfisher East Bengal for the McDowell Cup title. Barreto's first minute `golden goal' bailed out Mohun Bagan which beat Mohammedan Sporting 4-3 to win its semifinal match here at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday. The final will be played on Monday.

The match culminated into to an absorbing contest as fortune swung both ways to have a 3-3 tie at the end of the regulation 90 minutes. The most remarkable aspect was the Mohammedan Sporting come-back as the team erased a 1-3 deficit in the first session to draw level while absorbing the Mohun Bagan attacks before taking the game into extra-time.

Barreto, who had scored two goals earlier and missed many more, left no scope for a second attempt as his finely-timed right- footer beat a diving Mohammedan Sporting's substitute custodian, Dipankar Biswas (replacing an injured Gopal Das), to settle the issue for Mohun Bagan within seconds after the extra- time was kicked off.

The honour of a hero was thus cornered for the winning team by Barreto while the crusade of opposition forward, Nazimul Haq, appeared to be buried in the anguish of the team's defeat. Haq scored all the three Mohammedan Sporting goals for his hattrick, that looked so futile in the end.

Mohun Bagan began as the pre-match favourite and found the defensive tactics of its opponent suiting its purpose as the play remained confined mostly in Mohammedan Sporting half. With Lolendra Singh, as the overlapping left-back, and James Singh manning the moves on the left, Bagan found its flanks working well. The crosses flowed in regularly to keep the Mohammedan Sporting defence under constant pressure. After a couple close chances, Mohun Bagan found the breach opposition bulwark in the 11th minute when its other Brazilian recruit upfront, Joao Dos Santos, essayed a piercing through-pass that reached Barreto inside the box. Barreto was quick with his flick that beat Sporting goalkeeper, Gopal Das, to take Bagan one up.

It took another 11 minutes for Mohun Bagan to enhance its scoreline. Mohun Bagan's Bangalore recruit, R.C. Prakash, placed the ball into the net with a neat header on an attempted bicycle kick by midfielder Dulal Biswas, who availed a rebound as a Barreto first-timer came off a Mohammedan Sporting defender (2- 0).

Mohammedan Sporting, which played with an extra- midfielder, moved Haq up to join Abdul Khaleq in the attack. The ploy seemed to prove good as Haq harassed the Bagan defence with his nippy runs. Referee Subrata Sarkar, who did a fairly good job with his supervision, signalled an indirect freekick inside the Bagan box as the goalkeeper, Bivas Ghosh, handled a back-pass. Haq, on being released by Khaleq, banged the ball on the Bagan wall crowding the goalline and ball rebounded into the goal (2- 1).

Barreto was quick to enhance the margin for Mohun Bagan in the 45th minute. Reaching a low cross from the left, Barreto cleverly banged his header on the ground and the ball bounced into the goal defeating a diving Gopal Das under the bar. With Bagan moving ahead 3-1 at interval, Mohammedan Sporting now had a bigger task to accomplish.

The change of ends saw Mohammedan Sporting mounting more attacks and the initiative fetched a quick reward as Haq finished a Bastab Roy - playing as the left-half - minus to make it 2-3 for Sporting in the 52nd minute.

Sporting kept up the pressure and won a penalty two minutes later as one of the Bagan stopper backs M. Suresh tripped Roy inside his box. Haq scored the penalty to author one of the best come- back by a team in the recent past.

Bagan tried desperately to regain the real but the Sporting defence excelled in man-marking and first-time clearances to frustrate the opposition ploy before the match rolled into extra- time.

Mohun Bagan's Jose Barreto's (extreme right) attempt is thwarted by Mohammedan Sporting goal-keeper Gopal Das as the defenders watch in the semifinals of McDowell Cup football tournament in Calcutta on Saturday.

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