Match abandoned as rain interrupts play

By Our Sports Reporter

KOLKATA, OCT. 1. The first quarterfinal match of the 107th IFA Shield football tournament between Mohun Bagan and Manaksia Tollygunge Agragami was abandoned after 48 minutes of play here at the Salt Lake Stadium on Monday. A prolonged session of a torrential downpour midway through the match put paid to the possibility of any further action and the referee, Arup Chakraborty, stopped play declaring the match inconclusive.

The match will now be replayed on Wednesday at the same venue. This means that the last day of the quarterfinals will now have three matches. Brazil club Palmeiras-B plays Vietnam's Nam Dinh in the fourth match in the afternoon, and Mohun Bagan meets Tollygunge Agragami consequently under lights to replay the first match.

The third quarterfinals between Muktijoddha Sanshad of Bangladesh and Tata Football Academy will be played in the Municipal Stadium, Howrah.

The Indian Football Association has rescheduled the semifinals, both of which will now be held on Friday. The final is slated for Sunday.

The greatest to gain from Monday's outcome was, perhaps, Mohun Bagan which had to rally behind its modest opposition yet again to manage a 1-1 scoreline before the rains came down.

Agragami, under its astute coach Amal Dutta, has been increasingly mastering the tact of toppling famed sides. More so, Mohun Bagan has been on the receiving end of such a happening. Dutta's boys beat the very same opponent, 2-0, in the earlier meeting-in the Calcutta super division league last month-stopping the Kolkata giant's run of 14 consecutive wins. The IFA Shield quarterfinals thus seemed to be re-enacting such a drama when striker Akim Abul Alem had taken Agragami ahead as early as in the eighth minute.

The form that gave Bagan so much of success, including the Federation Cup early in the season, seems to be deserting that team. And the symptoms of such a malady is increasingly becoming conspicuous each time Agragami meets Bagan.

Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya appears to be giving little thought to his team's defence-the team's biggest drawback. The team has been tasting success owing chiefly to a very dynamic midfield and a sound forward-line spearheaded by Brazilian Jose Barreto. Bagan's defence, which has been tested very little owing to the effectiveness of the other two departments up front, has thus remained in the shadows. It is only against opponents like Agragami, which specialise in an ultra-defensive approach, that Mohun Bagan's back-line has faltered.

Agragami has mastered the counter-attacks very well and this has been sharpened lately with the inclusion of the two Nigerians- Abul Alem and Adiola Aderai-apart from old-timer Moses Owira. The three featured in giving a successful finish to a counter- offensive against Bagan, after Bagan had tried a futile offensive.

Having denied the goal by the packed Agragami defence, Bagan had to rely on Barreto's exceptional abilities yet again and the striker did not disappoint his supporters, finding the net in the 24th minute with a perfectly executed half-volley, off a Abdulatief Sereiki cross.

In the second quarterfinals, scheduled on Tuesday, East Bengal meets FC Kochin at Salt Lake Stadium.

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