DS blaze off the mark

The Daily Star got a winning start to their Kool-BSJA Media Cup football tournament campaign, defeating Dhaka Bangla Media and Communication (DBC) 1-0 at the BFF astroturf yesterday.

Despite what the scoreline suggests, it was all one-way traffic but our forwards Mazhar Uddin, Nabid Yeasin and Sheikh Mehedi Morshed spurned one opportunity after another.

Meanwhile, the imposing Sakeb Subhan and Mokammel Shuvo manned a watertight defence, marshalled by the immaculate Samama Rahman, whose penchant for shouting at teammates was only outdone by his soft spot for diving headers.

The voluptuous Abdullah Al Mehedi swapped with the gritty Orchid Changma in midfield.

The promising Nabid had the best chance when he stole the ball from a defender and came one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but he shot incredibly wide from all of three yards out with Mazhar standing at the far post and throwing a fit.

The winner eventually came when Mazhar’s ploy of standing static in front of the opposition goalkeeper finally worked. Nabid fed him the ball for an easy tap-in, which Mazhar celebrated as if he had won the World Cup.

DBC’s best chance came when they looped a ball towards TDS’s goal, but keeper Rumman Kalam channelled his inner Manuel Neuer to tip the ball just over the post.