East Bengal, Bagan in neck and neck race

S Ayyappa Swamy

The heat is well and truly on. We are not talking about the searing summer temperatures, but the impending climax of the fifth National Football League.

As has been the case over the past couple of rounds, it is the two Calcutta giants, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, who are battling it out for the tag of the best club in India. While Mohun Bagan have already won it twice before, it could well be the maiden title for their traditional rivals, East Bengal.

But haven’t we heard the age-old axiom of a slip between the cup and the lip. East Bengal coach Manoranjan Bhattchcharjee is keeping his fingers crossed and hoping his players have enough concentration and power to close in on the title. While they have played all the middle round matches extremely well, all will come to naught if their matches in the last two rounds do not turn out well.

Two draws in their last matches is a reason for worry for the East Bengal supporters. First, it was with Mohun Bagan, and then with Vasco, in an away match. Now they have two tough matches coming up, with F C Kochin, at home, and then, State Bank of Travancore, in away tie. While it is still possible that East Bengal may get past Kochin, the Thiruvananthapuram tie may just prove to be the tricky one.

And then, there is that Brazilian wizard, Jose Ramirez Barretto. His larger-than-life presence in the Mohun Bagan side, his tremendous ability to rally the players and, sometimes, his individualistic brilliance is what the legion of supporters of the maroon and golden brigade is hoping for. In the second phase, if he has scored one goal, he has always got another. He has scored 10 goals so far in the second phase and 14 overall.

The other day, the Salt Lake stadium witnessed one such magical moment, or was it two, as Mohun Bagan sliced away at their target, swallowing former champions Salgaocar in the progress. And guess what, Barretto got two goals.

With East Bengal unable to breach Vasco defences, just a wafer-thin margin separates the two.

Will it be Subroto Bhattacharjee of Mohun Bagan or Manoranjan Bhattacharyya of East Bengal, coaches of the respective teams? Just a handful of days remain for the big verdict.

Meanwhile, Mahindra United provided a big damper to the aspirations of Churchill Bros. finishing third. Of course, the 3-1 victory served to the jeepmen’s purpose as they were also looking at the wrong end of the barrel. A ten-man, coach-less (Shabbir Ali sacked?) Mahindra pulled an absolute stunner with two goals in the last ten minutes and that too in an away match. It was only their fifth win and second in 10 away matches.

The second surprising result of the 20th round came when Jagatjit Cotton Textile Mills, Phagwara defeated Tollygunge Aggragami 2-1 in Calcutta. Another anomaly in the league table got corrected as JCT won their first away match and fourth overall. They now have 21 points and that quite tightens the screws on Air-India and State Bank of Travancore.

JCT’s second leg results are extremely envious as they have lost just one of the nine matches played. In their last five matches, regular coach Sukhwinder Singh, on national duty, has been replaced by former India player Parminder Singh.

So where does that leave Air-India and IndianTelephone Industries, on 18 and 21 points respectively. Quite safe for the Bangaloremen, and a tricky situation for the airmen. The two teams played out a 1-1 draw after the Bombay team got the opening goal. However, now Air-India surely look set for the relegation bin, from where they had just made a splendid comeback.

Best goal: Emeka Achilefu’s swinging left-footer for Tollygunge Aggragami against Jagatjit Cotton Textile Mills, Phagwara.

Best match: Ten-man Mahindra United beating Churchill Bros.3-1, at Goa.

Disappointment: Air-India unable to hold on to their solitary goal lead over Indian Telephone Industries.

Great Escape: JCT defeating Tollygunge, which could just save them from relegation.

Results of the 19th round:

FC Kochin drew with SBT 1-1, at Kochi
Mohun Bagan beat Salgaocar 2-1, at Calcutta
Tollygunge Aggragami lost to JCT 1-2, at Calcutta
Churchill Brothers drew with Tollygunge 1-1, at Goa
Churchill Brothers lost to Mahindra United 1-3, at Goa
Vasco drew with East Bengal 1-1, at Goa
ITI drew with Air-India 1-1, at Bangalore.

Schedule for 21st round:

April 23: Vasco vs Zee Churchill, at Goa
April 24: SBT vs Air-India, at Thiruvnanthapuram; East Bengal vs FC Kochin, at Calcutta; Salgaocar vs Mahindra United, at Goa.
April 25: ITI vs JCT, at Bangalore
April 26: Vasco vs Mohun Bagan.

Related reports
Related reports:
FC Kochin lead National Football League race
F C Kochin stay ahead
Salgaocar close in on early leaders
Mohun Bagan well-placed after five rounds
Air India, Mahindra in a spot - Summary of Round 6
East Bengal high in the saddle - Summary of Round 7
East Bengal on top for second week - Summary of Round 8
Three in close race - Summary of Round 9
Prakash's hat-trick high point of Round 10
Bungo Singh, R C Prakash steal the limelight
F C Kochin stay unbeaten, but just about
Upsets aplenty in Round 13 of NFL
ITI win 14th round honours
East Bengal widen lead at the top
Mahindra United made the best of disjointed FC Kochin
East Bengal stay on course for title
Bagan, E Bengal set for close finish