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SPORTS TRIBUNE |
All set
for the French toast Dempo set
the tempo IN THE NEWS |
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Dempo Sports Club re-asserted their supremacy by pocketing their second National Football League title in three years. The Goan team finished its ONGC Cup league engagements with a solitary-goal win over Mohun Bagan at the Nehru Stadium in Margao recently. Dempo, who had won the title earlier in 2005, finished atop the table with 36 points from 18 matches, five points ahead of runners-up JCT. Dempo coach Armando Colaco was excited after winning the title for the second time, the only Goan side to achieve the feat. "It was a great achievement. Our boys played consistently. Winning the Durand Cup helped us to remain focussed," said Colaco, who is also the general secretary of the All-India Football Federation. Dempo got richer by Rs 40 lakh, while JCT and Mahindra United pocketed Rs 22 lakh and Rs 18 lakh for finishing second and third, respectively.
Ranty ended up with a total of 16 goals, but he lost the golden boot award for the top scorer to Churchill Brothers’ Odafe Okolie, who got 18, including a hat-trick against Mohammedan Sporting in Kolkata on May 2. Other players who played a big role in Dempo’s title triumph were Anthony Pereira, Roberto Mendes Silva, Climax Lawrence and Clifford Miranda. There were three Dempo players in the top 10 scorers’ list — Ranty, Silva (7) and Pereira (6). Dempo recorded 11 victories, three draws and four defeats. They scored 37 goals and conceded 21. Their biggest win was against Mohammedan Sporting at home (5-0). The Goan side lost twice to Mahindras (1-2 and 0-1), and went down 2-3 and drew 0-0 with JCT. Their only other loss came at the hands of Mohammedan Sporting (2-3). Their record against other sides was: 3-1 and 2-1 (HAL); 0-0 and 5-3 (East Bengal), 2-1 and 1-0 (Mohun Bagan); 2-1 and 2-2 (Air-India); 3-2 and 2-0 (Sporting Clube de Goa); 2-0 and 3-1 (Churchill Brothers). Defending champions Mahindra United could not recreate last season’s magic. They had only one player in the top 10 — Ghanain Andrews Mensah (11 goals). Star forward Bhaichung Bhutia, who has dominated the Indian football scene for a decade and a half, did not find a place in the top 10 (he scored only four goals). He and his strike partner, Brazilian Jose Ramirez Barreto (five goals), were supposed to strike big for Mohun Bagan, but they failed to set the stands on fire. It was a disappointing league for the Kolkata clubs. Three-time champions East Bengal finished fifth, while Mohun Bagan, also winners thrice, ended up a poor eighth. The third outfit, Mohammedan Sporting, finished ninth and were relegated to the second division. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Sports Club were also relegated as they brought up the rear in the 10-team event. This was the last season
for the ONGC National Football League. The inaugural Pro League will
start later this year to replace the NFL. The 2007-08 season will be the
first for the new league. — Agencies |
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IN THE
NEWS
THE high point of the rain-hit India-Bangladesh Test at Chittagong was the superb all-round display of man-of-the-match Mashrafe Mortaza. After taking four wickets in the Indian first innings, the Bangladesh pace spearhead got going with the bat too when it mattered the most. India were in the driver’s seat with Bangladesh tottering at 149-8, still 39 away from avoiding the follow-on, but a 77-run ninth-wicket stand between Mortaza and Shahadat Hossain dashed India’s hopes. Mortaza’s contribution was 79 off 91 balls, including seven boundaries and three sixes. He took another wicket in the second innnings to finish with match figures of 5-133. In the preceding ODI series, he had smashed 42 off 22 deliveries in the second match. His knock featured five sixes, including four in a row off Dinesh Mongia. Incidentally, Mortaza learnt vital lessons at the Chennai-based MRF Pace Foundation a few years ago. He had a flaw in his bowling action, but it was corrected by legendary Australian pacer Dennis Lillee, a visiting coach at the foundation, about three years ago. Bangladesh look up to the 23-year-old to provide breakthroughs and win matches. He was instrumental in his team’s startling victory over India in the recent World Cup with a lethal four-wicket haul (he was deservingly named the man of the match). Mortaza’s heroics in the Chittagong Test earned praise from Indian skipper Rahul Dravid, who said the youngster was shaping up into a genuine allrounder. "Bangladesh are lucky to have such a cricketer. He is very good with the ball and his contribution down the order with the bat is also important for his team. "There are not many like him around at the moment, especially a fast-bowling all-rounder," Dravid added. — Agencies |