Mariners clinch 9th straight win
Dhaka Mariner Young's Club continued their winning streak in the Green Delta Insurance Premier Division Hockey League by notching a massive 9-0 win over Dhaka Wanderers Club at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday.
With their ninth straight victory in as many matches, Dhaka Mariners took the solo lead in the 12-team table with 27 points, three more than second placed Abahani and Mohammedan SC, while Dhaka Wanderers remain at the bottom with eight defeats in nine matches.
Though Mariner Young's recorded their second biggest win yesterday, the way the defending champions played throughout the match was unimpressive and might even be cause for concern, especially ahead of the big matches against Mohammedan SC and Abahani on May 23 and 29 respectively.
Mariner Young's struggled to break down the Wanderers backline, despite having national players and four foreign recruits in the squad, until Moinul Islam Koushik broke the deadlock in the 16th minute.
Mariner's German forward Jonas Friedrich, Egyptians Ashraf Said and Ahmed Mohsen did not appear as impressive as the foreign players Abahani and Mohammedan roped in while the locals surprisingly squandered a number of opportunities, including a few one-on-one situations with Wanderers' goalkeeper Sagor.
However, one positive takeaway is that Mariner Young's converted all three of their penalty corners as Mamunur Rahman Chayan slammed the 28th hattrick of the ongoing league.
Apart from Chayan's treble, Koushik, Mohsen, Hasin Arman, Mahbub Hossain, Pushkor Khisha and Hasan Jubair Niloy scored one goal apiece.
“We could not perform well because both of us took to the field directly without any practice after coming here from Germany on Saturday. The weather has been hot and humid in Bangladesh and so we need a few sessions to get used to it,” said German Nikolas Dombrowski, who was also with the club during their 2016 Premier League triumph.
“I am confident that Mariner Young's will retain the title because we have a lot of national players,” opined the 29-year old defender.
“Yes, the forwards missed some good opportunities and if they continue to put up such performances, then it will be a bit difficult for us to retain the title as Mohammedan SC and Abahani are also strong opponents in the league,” continued Nikolas, who featured in the second-tier league in Germany alongside forward Jonas.
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