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MOHUN BAGAN LIFTS SUPER CUP BY BEATING CHURCHILL 2-1

Kolkata, 21-Mar, 2009:

Federation Cup winners Mohun Bagan today beat I league Champions Churchill Brothers 2-1 to lift Super Cup 2009. Barreto scored the winning goal in 89th minute as Mohun Bagan won Super Cup by beating Churchill 2-1. The half time score was leveled 1-1. Manju scored the goal for Mohun Bagan in 21st minute while Vashum equalized for Churchill in 44th minute. After today's win, Mohun Bagan ended a successful season, being Kolkata league winners, Federaration cup champion and winning the Super Cup title whereas they finished runners in I league.

The match was a fast paced one with both teams missing chances. Mohun Bagan defence played really well to bottle up Odafa. The first chance of the match came to Bhaichung in the 8th minute when he got a loose ball inside box due to a lapse by Churchill defense, but his hurriedly-taken shot went out. In 12th minute, Odafa brilliantly dribbled past three players but Ishfaq was equally good to his task when he snatched the ball from Odafa in front of his own penalty box. In 16th minute, Ishfaq was again in the thick of action when he took the ball from Kalu in midfield and gave a forward pass to Baichung who pushed the ball towards Barreto, who in turn took a shot from outside box that narrowly missed target. In 20th minute, James, who had a brilliant match today, crossed the ball from right flank that went straight to Bhaichung, who leaped and headed the ball in first post, the ball went out, the second post was left open by goalkeeper. In the next minute, Mohun Bagan scored the goal. Marcos took a short corner with James and the latter floated the ball inside box that Kalu tried to clear by heading the ball but the ball ballooned up and went to Manju who took a header that took a parabolic motion and went straight inside goal, Arindam had absolutely no chance to save the ball and Mariners went 1-0 up.

After the goal, Churchill looked to pile pressure on the Fed Cup Champions and got few chances in the next 5 minutes but the defenders of Mohun Bagan brilliantly intercepted the ball each time. In 22nd minute, Habibur made a very good clearance to avert danger, Felix was in open. In the next minute, Vashum gave a long ball for Odafa who tried to enter Mohun Bagan box by getting past Dipak and Manju but the latter cleared the ball for corner by timely heading the ball. In the next minute again, Odafe gave a through pass to Vashum who had only Shilton in front of him, but Mohanraj covered him up nicely and cleared the ball for corner. In 28th minute, James crossed the ball that was going towards Baichung who was standing unmarked but Gourmangi made a very good clearance by heading the ball for corner. In 37th minute, Mohun Bagan again got a chance when Barreto gave a through pass to James who again delivered a very good ball for Bhaichung but unfortunately his well-taken shot narrowly missed target. Just before half time, Mohun Bagan conceded the goal when Vashum entered the box, dribbled past Mohanraj and took a shot that beat Shilton and went inside goal deflecting off Dipak's leg. Dipak who otherwise had a very good game perhaps was a bit slow this time.

After lemon break, Churchill dominated the proceedings for about 15 minutes. In 50th minute, Shilton saved a certain goal when he did not allow Felix to take a shot at the goal. In 54th minute, this time it was Habibur whose acrobatic header saved the day for Mariners. In 56th minute, Rakesh got a ball from Marcos in midfield and took a long ranger shot from about 30 yards out that just missed the target by a whisker. In 62nd minute, Mohun Bagan was clearly denied a penalty when Barreto brilliantly dribbled past 2 players and when he was about to unleash a left footed shot he was clearly pulled down by Raju, but referee Suresh overlooked the incident. In 74th minute, Bhaichung ran a few paces with the ball and released a through pass but Barreto's shot went out of target. Barreto, however, scored the winning goal in 89th minute. Mohanraj made a brilliant cross from midfield that went to Barreto who leaped well to head the ball that went into far corner of the net making it 2-1 in favor of Mohun Bagan. While scoring the goal, Barreto injured himself and was taken to nursing home via ambulance. However, the report that we got is that he is okay now but he had bleeding from his mouth and it is suspected that he might have fractured his teeth.

After the match, Mohun Bagan captain Bhaichung expressed his happiness while talking to media person. He said, "All the players were very tired but today we fought brilliantly and the win is a hard earned one." Shilton Pal who got chance to play after many matches since Sangram was injured said, "I am very happy that team won. It is not important whether I play or Sangram da as long as Mohun Bagan keeps winning. Definitely, whenever I will get chance, I will try my level best to perform."

We also had a talk with coach Karim.

Congrats coach on winning Super Cup.

Karim: Thanks a lot.

How would you sum up today's performance?

Karim: This is a very satisfying win for us. This showed that we deserved to win I league because we met Churchill three times this season and we have beaten them twice. We came very close to winning I league and we were contenders till last round but somehow just could not manage it. Looking back, I think faltering in the first few matches and may be losing points against JCT in Ludhiana cost us the I league.

Coming back to today's match, this was a very tactical match today. We played with a little different strategy. I knew that Odafa is a good player and my defenders covered him up nicely and did not allow him any space or turning to take a shot. One of the main mode of attack of Churchill is via their left and right back. I had given instructions to James and Ishfaq to not allow them to go up and so Churchill today mainly relied on long balls. I also knew that we had to stop Kalu as he can combine well with Odafa down the middle but Rakesh was man marking Kalu the whole match and he did his job quite well. We did not man mark Chitra but relied on zonal marking. I instructed Marcos to play as a holding midfielder and assist sometimes the defenders. This plan worked well and we also got few chances to score and we scored 2 goals. The goal that we conceded was a little unfortunate one. Overall I am very satisfied with team's performance and the players executed my plan to perfection today. All the players did their job today.

I think Mohun Bagan fans and Kolkata football lovers can feel satisfied that out of all Kolkata teams it is Mohun Bagan who performed so well this season and was the most consistent team winning 3 trophies and finishing runners up in one. The last few years it was the Goa and Mumbai teams doing well but this time Mohun Bagan did very well and I think this is a very good sign for Kolkata football.