Jamal scrape past Feni
An early strike from Mamunul Islam helped Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club edge Feni Soccer Club 1-0 in their Grameenphone Bangladesh League match at the Birshreshtha Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur yesterday.
Winger Shakil Ahmed ran down from the left to enter the box before cutting it back for playmaker Mamunul Islam, who nudged the ball home from close range in the ninth minute to give the star-studded side their fourth victory in six matches.
Two straight victories under the newly recruited Sri Lankan coach Packeer Ali takes Sheikh Jamal to the third position along with Sheikh Russel KC on 11 points. Muktijoddha Sangsad lead the table with 15 points with holders Abahani in second position with 13.
Apart from the decisive goal, the game was insipid as Sheikh Jamal with their national booters looking far from motivated, tired and aimless. They made numerous miss-passes and even failed to muster one shot on target after taking the early lead against lowly Feni Soccer Club, who now lie second from the bottom.
Sheikh Jamal's national striking duo Zahid Hasan Emily and Enamul Haq disappointed the few hundred spectators again with their poor show and are yet to find the target in their sixth match of the league.
Enamul could have broken his duck had he not failed to connect on a close-range cut-back from Atiqur Rahman Mishu in the second minute of the game. An ineffective Enamul was later taken off in the second half to make way for striker Towhidul Alam Sabuj, who also missed an open net.
Sheikh Jamal looked more disorgansied in the second half to allow Feni Soccer Club to come into attacks and the visitors nearly snatched an equaliser when a flick by Bulbul off a Dominic square-pass seemingly crossed the goalline with goalkeeper Aminul stopping it with his chest but referee Jasim Uddin ignored the claims of Feni Soccer's players.
Packeer Ali was satisfied after securing full three points yet was unhappy with the performance of his charges.
“Maybe the players took the opponents lightly and took the win for granted which affected our own game, but fortunately we won the game,” said Sheikh Jamal coach Packeer.
Feni Soccer coach Abu Yousuf said, “I still can't change the mindset of the players. They don't believe that can beat the big sides. The boys actually lost the game before the kick-off.”
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