MSC hold BJMC

DOG DAY AFTERNOON: A match official shows a stray dog the exit during yesterday's Grameenphone Bangladesh Premier League match between Mohammedan and Team BJMC at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. However, the canine proved a hard one to officiate as it kept coming back onto the pitch, holding up play for a couple of minutes.Photo: Anisur Rahman

A struggling Mohammedan SC came from behind to hold newcomers Team BJMC to a 1-1 draw in their Grameenphone Bangladesh Premier League encounter at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Guinean hitman Ismael Bangoura headed home to give BJMC the lead before Nigerian Basden Wilcox cancelled that to provide the Black and Whites a valuable point to raise their collection to six from as many matches.
Federation Cup runners-up BJMC leapfrogged to the third position with nine points from six matches, eight points less than leaders Abahani and seven points behind second placed Muktijoddha though they have a match in hand.
Fresh from a 2-0 win over Feni Soccer Club, BJMC went into the match with an upper hand against the tottering Mohammedan, who lost to Sheikh Jamal in the previous match, and expectedly the newcomers played better but failure of their strikers and a defensive attitude later in the game forced them to share points with Mohammedan.
After taking the lead seven minutes into the second-half, BJMC coach Jakaria Babu strengthened the backline sending on Ramjan Mollah in place of winger Rony Islam, who penetrated the defence from the left-wing many a time, and that saw his side concede the equaliser barely four minutes after the change.
"I brought about the change to strengthen the backline but the goal we conceded was the result of a misunderstanding between the defenders and goalkeeper," admitted Babu.
BJMC enjoyed the lion's share of ball procession and created more chances than Mohammedan as they came close to taking a lead in the ninth minute. But Mohammedan goalkeeper Arifuzzaman Himel brilliantly thwarted a Bangoura effort for a corner while Mobarrak saw his weak shot from close range fail to trouble BJMC goalkeeper Mazharul Islam Himel in the 16th minute.
Mohammedan survived a scare one minute from the break as Bangoura sent a follow-up wide from the six-yard box after goalkeeper Arifuzzaman fisted a powerful drive taken by Biplob from outside the box.
After resumption, Bangoura made amends to head in a well-judge free-kick from substitute Abul Hossain to quieten a few hundred Mohammedan supporters.
But BJMC could hold on to the lead for a few minutes as Mohammedan levelled the margin in the 66th minute as Nigerian Wilcox availed the fumbles by BJMC defenders to push a Rony lob home.
Mohammedan could have even won the game had a Wilcok header off an Ochendo free-kick not gone narrowly wide of the far post in the 90th minute.
"This is not a match to draw. We should have won the game. One player can make the difference in such match but we don't have such a player," rued Mohammedan coach Emeka.