Abahani in final

Abahani winger Imtiaz Sultan Jitu (R) is in a dual with Brothers Union midfielder Faisal Mahmood (C) during their semifinal of the Grameenphone Federation Cup at the Birshreshtha Mostafa Kamal Stadium yesterday.Photo: STAR

Abahani reached the final of the season's curtain-raising tournament for a record 15th time when they handed a solitary-goal defeat to Brothers Union in the first semifinal of the Grameenphone Federation Cup at the Birshreshtha Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur yesterday.
Promising midfielder Imtaiz Sultan Jitu separated both sides in the 45th minute to help Sky Blues surpass ten-time Federation Cup champions Mohammedan's 14 final berths as well as buried a spirited Brothers Union's hopes of moving to the final after two seasons.
Three-time Bangladesh League champions Abahani will take on the winners of the second semifinal between Sheikh Russel KC and Muktijoddha Sangsad which will be held today.
Brazilian playmaker Everton, who almost took Brothers single-handedly to the semifinals with his dazzling performances, failed to spark in the crucial match amid close marking from the opponents. On the other hand, superior ball possession proved the key to Abahani's success in the entertaining semi.
Both sides made a cautious start before Brothers came close to an opener with winger Faisal Mahmud running down the left to whip in a well-judged cross for Cameroon striker Bitcha Richards, whose flick at the near post went inches wide, to the relief of goalkeeper Ziaur Rahman.
The return of Ghanaian defender Samad Youssif strengthened Abahani's backline, however the defender had very little to do when Ghanaian striker Enock Bentil rattled the wood-work five minutes from the break.
Breaking the offside trap, Bentil capitalised on a Kabir Hossain lob and latched on to the ball inside the box only to be denied by the crossbar.
Hardly five minutes had passed before the deadlock was broken, but at the other end. Awudu Ibrahim did all the hardwork in the right flank and curved a cross for unmarked Jitu who tapped the ball into Brothers' net giving no chance to goalkeeper Roghu to react.
Going a goal up, Abahani adopted a defensive strategy to keep their goal well guarded after the break, making the Brothers job tough to split the backline.
However, Jitu and Awudu again came close to doubling the lead in the 74th minute when Awudu's left-footed drive narrowly missed the target.
Brothers should have levelled the margin four mainutes later, but Richards' shot went straight into the grasp of Zia.
Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu believes keeping cool and availing the chances were the key to their success.
"The boys were focused on their job and they capitalised on the opportunities that came and ran out winners," said Rupu.
Brothers coach Wasim Iqbal was clearly disappointed.
"It was not our day, we missed scoring opportunities and Everton took too much responsibility on him trying solely to win the game which ultimately had an adverse impact on our game," said Wasim.