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Abahani annex league championship in style

A renegade wreaks havoc

Sports Reporter
A few years ago. precisely In the 1987 fqotball sen son. Khurshjd Al am Babul exacted a sweet revenge
by scoring the last goal In hts side Mohammedans' 3-2 victory against arch-rivals and former team Abahani Krtra Chakra to throw cold water on the plans for cham pionship celebration of the sky-blues That happened five years ago. and the venue was Dhaka Stadium yesterday, al the Mirpuf Stadium Mamun Joarder. the nippy stockily built winger of Abahani Krtra Chakra who had Joined Abahani from Mohammedans onfy this year came on as a substitute.
scored two goals which not only quashed Mohammedans chances of regaining the title but made sure that the title remained Abahani’s for the second season in a row.
Mohammedans, who had no other way but win yesterday's 'crunch match' to entertain any hope of regaining the title which they lost to Abahani in 1989 after completing a hat-trick of championship In the years 1986, $7 and 88, seem Ingly lacked the determination and the touch to push the championship issue to a play off, a la 1987. With 33 points from 18 matches prior to yesterdays match, the black-and whites trailed the sky-blues, who had dropped only one
point In thetr 18 matches to top the league table with 35 points.
With the deafening cacophony of crackers, the beating of drums and cymbals and the hoisting of colourful balloons setting the mood for the last league match, the actual contest got underway 17 minutes later then Its scheduled start of 4 pm.
Both teams looked extremely uptight, and taut, not unexpectedly In such a vital match between the two top clubs of the country. If Abahani ran the risk of being caught In a dilemma of to attack or not to attack, the remarkably long time taken by the Mohammedan players to settle down was mind-boggling. The more than 50 thousand spectators who thronged the faraway arena were dished out absolutely non-dcscript brand of football which mocked the expectations of the general and more uninitiated section of the onlookers whose appetite had been further whetted by the presence of the half a dozen Russian footballers In the two teams.
The number was cut down to five in yesterday's clash of the titans as Alexei Arifiev of Abahani had to see his side's ultimate triumph from the sidelines, having received the marching order in the match against Brothers Union. In the end. when the Jubilant Abahani fans invaded the pitch in the approaching twilight to celebrate the victory of their side with an Indigenous version of the samba, the fact that Arifiev did not play was quietly forgotten.
The Jubilant mood, however, was there prior to the start of the match as three former national footballers — Dewan Shafiul Arefin Tutui, Khorshed Alam Babul and Abdus Salam Murshedt — choose yesterday's crowd-packed occasion to 'officially' call it a day. All three, out of competitive football for quite sometime with Salam now doing managerial duties for Mohammedans, were given bouquets and a standing ovation by the crowd during their valedictory lap around the stadium.
The first sign of confusion was noticed in the Abahani defence tn the 26th minute of the match when a free-kick from the left by Rumman btn-Wali Shabbir caught the Abahani stoppers unawares and only a last-minute rescue act at the cost of a corner by Masud Rana saved the sky blues from an early set-back.
Although repeated onslaughts by the Mohammedan forwards were the speculated order of the day, the Abahani midfielders led by Sergei Zhukov cut the lifeline between the Mohammedan offence and their mid-field, a fact that saw prolific goal-getter Abdou Rahimov of Mohammedans totally out of Job. Zakir, Rumi In the midfield and Masud Rana In defence did a splendid Job to help Abahani establish a vlce-likc grip In the midfield.
Aslam, one of the few off-colour Abahani players yesterday. wasted a fine chance when he blasted the ball over from an advantageous position after Zakir had done the spadework.
Abahani’s Rumi had the Mohammedan players and supporters chilled to death when his stinging left-fooler that sliced through Kalsar and Shamim hit the Inside of the far post and tantalisingly grazed past the goal-line oh an its snailing out safety across the Mohammedan goal, much to the relief of the black and whites defenders. The out swing of the shot perhaps saved the broth on that occasion for Mohammedans.
Masud Rana teed a fine pass to Polynkov In the 44th minute of the first halibut the Russian
striker failed to press home the advantage of ■ fine ball when he was tackled at the nick of time by Shamim. the Mohammedan right-back.
After a pedestrian first half of the match really came alive from the 14th minute of the second half when an aged Boris Kuznetsov, Mohamme dan's Russian mid-fielder, suddenly accelerated down the middle to latch on to a defence-splitting through by team-mate Nabikov that found the net for Moahmmedans. much to the horror of a desperately charging out Mohsin (1-0). Abahani stoppers Munna and Rehan were paralysed by their parallel position when Kuznetsov, perhaps taken lightly compared to the worry and care demanded by Rahimov, did the damage much to the delight of the Mohammedan supporters.
Rahimov, however, was not really policed by any particular Abahani defender which again spoke volumes of the efforts put In by the Abahani mid fielders.
Abahani took sometime to reorganise themselves after the goal but with Mamun Joarder coming tn place of Polynkov the sky-blues underwent a transformation.
Mamun harried and harassed Johnny on the left with hts sudden darting runs. With Rumi scything down the middle with superb footwork, the equaliser appeared to be Just round the corner and it did come in the 69th minute. Rumi cut down the left to send a cross badly goofed by Mohammedan stoppers and the ball travelled to an unmarked Mamun Joarder who had all the time in the world to beat Kanan with a powerful left footed grounder (1-1).
The restoration of parity was the turnaround of the course of the match with Mohammedans apparently losing their bearings to a rejuvenated allegro Abahani who really ran all over their opponents.
Mamun sealed the falc of the match seven minutes from the time when he shook off Kalsar Hamid inside the box to beat Kanan with a fierce shot at the first post from close, the ball entering the top of the net off Kanan's outstretched palms (2-1).
Abahani kept up the pressure till the end and when referee Nasir Chowdhury blew the final whistle Abahani had retained the title which they won the last time the league was held, in 1989-90.
This was Abahani’s eighth league title following their emulation of the feat earlier in 1974, '77. ’81, '83. '84. '85. and in '89.
Mohammedans have also won the league title eight times, last winning it in 1988 before losing It to Abahani. This was the 34th league encounter between the two teams and the 47th overall, including the battles in various tournaments. The record, however, still favours Mohammedans who won 18 of thetr earlier confrontations while Abahani raised their tally to 14 wins while 15 games were drawn. This was Abahani’s first victory agdlnst Mohammedans in the league since 1984 when they had defeated their rivals 3-2 in the first leg.
Munna, Rchan and Masud Rana of Abahani and Shabbir, Johnny and Rahimov of Mohammedans were shown the yellow cards.