Bentil Brothers' hero
A depleted Brothers Union made a winning start in the Bangladesh League with a lone-goal win over Muktijoddha Sangsad in their first match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Ghanaian striker Enock Bentil's 24th minute strike was the separator in front of an almost empty bowl though the Bangladesh Football Federation, perhaps inspired by the near-packed stadium during the Federation Cup final recently, decided to start the professional football league matches in late afternoon, but the spectators' attendance was really frustrating, except for two matches involving holders Abahani and runners-up Mohammedan.
Brothers Union, sporting blue shirts instead of their traditional orange, yielded more chances in the match but could only manage to cash in on one of those though the scorer appeared 'offside'.
It was not only a battle between to falling giants, but also a fight between mentor Golam Sarwar Tipu and his disciple Wasim Iqbal and the latter had the last laugh after both Brothers Union and Muktijoddha were eliminated from the group stages from the season's curtain-raising tournament, the Federation Cup.
From the beginning, both sides tried hard to take control of the midfield though no one could enforce full authority to dictate the game, which progressed in attacks and counter-attacks.
Tipu's Muktijoddha Sangsad, however, should have taken a lead early in the first half when Liberian striker Eugene Gray ran past a couple of Brothers defenders to float a Jalal pass over the crosspiece.
Bentil however did not waste the opportunity offered by Muktijoddha defenders, who did not intend to stop the Ghanaian striker trying to set up an offside trap, and the Brothers forward sent the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper Tareq from inside the box.
Five minutes later, Muktijoddha Sangsad captain Rokonuzzaman Kanchan missed an opportunity to level the margin as the out-of-form striker struck lamely a delightful backheel from Gray straight to Brothers goalkeeper Iran Sheikh.
Wasim sent on winger Tanvir to empower the attack and he along with Bentil created a couple of good chances with the former hitting the crossbar once after the lemon break.
Bentil cut the ball to Tanvir, who let loose a 30-yarder that went out kissing the crossbar in the 58th minute while two minutes later Tanvir set Bentil on the right side and his angular shot to the far post went narrowly wide much to the relief of the former Abahani goalkeeper.
"It was actually an even match as both sides created a lot of opportunities and we finally went down because of our strikers' failure," said veteran Muktijoddha coach Tipu, who also thought his side lacked combination in the midfield.
Wasim was happy to see his charges play an organised game.
"The boys played nice football today and I am confident they will get better the next matches," said Wasim.
TEAMS
BROTHERS UNION: Iran, Saikat, Yusuf, Ripon, Khalilur, Nayan, Bentil, Steven Kwest, Murad (Sabuj), Liton (Tanvir) and Sawkat.
MUKTIJODDHA SANGSAD: Tareq, Kanchan (Tipu), Shuvro, Prodip Kumar (Promisse Devis), Mahmudul Hasan, Manwar, Camara Safully, Jalal, Rony, Arup and Gray.
Yellow cards: Khalilur (Brothers)
Referee: Shahidul Islam Lalu.
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