Mariners regain hockey league title

Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club made it a double success in domestic hockey this year, adding the title of Green Delta Insurance Premier Division Hockey League to the Club Cup Hockey title they won earlier in the year.

The Arambagh-based outfit beat arch-rivals Mohammedan Sporting Club 3-2 in the last match of the league at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium to clinch the prestigious title for the second time after having broken their duck five years ago.

Shohanur Rahman, who had scored two goals when Mariners beat Abahani 3-0 in the final of the Club Cup last month, scored twice for the winning side.

Pradeep Mor scored Mariners' third goal while Gonzalo Peilet and Sarwar Hossain scored for Mohammedan in the entertaining encounter.

The win took Mariners to 42 points from 15 matches while Abahani finished second on 39 points and Mohammedan ended on third with 36 points.

Following their Club Cup triumph, Mariners had started the campaign emphatically by winning all 11 matches in the first phase of the league.

However, as they needed a point from their last two matches, Mariners were stunned with a 4-3 defeat against Abahani in their last Super Five match -- conceding two goals in the last minute of the match. The result meant a defeat for Mariners in yesterday's match would have put all three teams on equal points, forcing a three-way play-off.

Those fears of Mariners became more palpable when Mohammedan broke the deadlock in the 10th minute, Gonzalo Peilet flicking home the second penalty corner of the game dragged by Rasel Mahmud Jimmy. But Mariners hit back five minutes later, with Sohanur striking from a PC initiated by Milon Hossain. The same combination worked again 10 minutes later as Mariners took a 2-1 lead going into the half-time break.

Mohammedan were less impressive from open play and spurned a slew of PCs and they were punished for their profligacy when Pradeep Mor scored a wonderful field goal on 51 minutes to give Mariners breathing space.

Even though Sarwar Hossain scored for Mohammedan in the 57th minute to reduce the margin, there was no more dramatic defeat for Mariners as they held onto the lead to clinch their second trophy of the season.