Bangoura hattrick powers NoFeL SC

Guinean hitman Ismael Bangoura scored a second consecutive hattrick to help newcomers NoFeL SC post a 4-3 win over Team BJMC in their Bangladesh Premier League encounter at the Shaheed Bulu Stadium yesterday.

With their overall fourth win, NoFeL moved to ninth position on the 13-team table with 16 points from 17 matches while BJMC remained glued to bottom place with eight points from 18 outings.

The tie was crucial for both sides, who are in the race to avoid relegation, but it was NoFel who had the last laugh, thanks to a treble from the professional football league’s old guard Bangoura.

Fresh from a morale boosting 5-2 win over Rahmatganj MFS, NoFel made a blistering start yesterday with 34-year-old Bangoura opening their account in the 18th minute. Bangoura headed in an Ashraful Islam before doubling the lead six minutes later with another header, this time off a Kamrul Islam corner.

The Guinean striker, who once played for Team BJMC, completed his hattrick by nodding home another corner from Kamrul Islam in the 36th minute, making it a one-way affair throughout the first half.

BJMC hit back with Uzbek forward Mukhamedov Otabek pulling one goal back following a corner from Mobarak Hossain nine minutes into the second half, however, BJMC conceded again with Ashraful Islam making it 4-1 in the 57th minute.

In the 73rd minute, Otabek reduced the margin by scoring from a free-kick from the edge of the box while Eleta Kingsley made the stoppage time an exciting affair by converting a penalty to make it 4-3. However, the last-ditch efforts were not enough earn BJMC at least one point from the match, just as they had in a goal-less draw in a first-leg meeting.