Public Works Department (PWD) suffercd their defeat when giant slayers Wari Club beat them by a solitary goal in the Star Premier Division football league at the Dhuka Stadium yesterday.
PWD were reduced to ten men shortly after the start as referee Nazir Hossai'n marked the beginning of an iwening of agonisingly biased refereeing by giving the marching order to defender Kakon.
It was like breaking a butterfly In the wheel as Kakon collided with a Wart plaj'er for a common ball. As If to prove that the ouster of the unfortunate player was not an accident, the man In black made life miserable for the office team with improper and whistling for the rest of the match.
Although Wari players went unpunished for offences, that drew yellow card from the referee in the case of PWD players, the eventual winners could not drive home any extra advantage in an otherwise lack-lustre match. The poor condition of the ground did not help matters either.
In fact the ninth-minute goal apart the match had very little to offer for the few football buff who braved the inclement weather to see the clash between the two middle tier teams. Both had enhanced their reputation with fine performances against the top teams In the earlier matches of
the Star Premier Division football league. Wari defeated Brothers Union tn their league opener and then did one better by snatching a point from reigning champions Abahanf Krira Chakra.
The prelude of a tough league this year in fact dates back to June 11. the inaugural day of the Star First Division football leagues. PWD came back from behind to hold Abahani Krira Chakra one-all.
The draw catapulted PWD overnight as one of the hurdles for the title aspirants like Mohammedans and Brothers Union. PWD did not find it par-ticularly hard to reconcile with their reputation and Justified it with two good wins and a draw. More and more soccer lovers started wondering what kept PWD flying. All speculations were ended yesterday as Wari left back Chanchai took a routine shot on a swerving flag kick by Shoeb that eluded the careless PWD defence and the fairly ordinary attempt beat the feeble defence of the outstretched hands of goalie Humayun and nestled into the met lowly grazing the side post (1 -0).
From then on PWD enjoyed territorial domination right through the match but the slushy ground and tight marking of their goal getter Mushtaq kept the score un-changcd.
Wari, on the other hand, played very . purposeless football ori.ee they got the fortuitous leaid. Tutul, their captain and one of the stars of this
year's league, was not found easily and his only attempt was a poorly placed grounder that Humayun covered well. Both Wari and PWD have six points from five matches.
POINTS SHARED
Elast End and Sadharan Blma Krira Sangstha shared points as the Star First Division encounter held at the same venue earlier ended in a two-all draw.
The first half of the match saw both teams locked at 1-1.
Sagar gave Elast End and early lead when, the right back neatly converted a penalty as referee awarded this year's one of the two promotees a spot kick for a handball by a Bima defender inside the dreaded -zone (1-0).
Jahangir restored parity for the Insurancemen when his powerful shot of a faulty clearance slipped under the arm of custodian Mohsin in the 23rd minute of the match (1-1).
Bima took the lead three minutes into the second half when Mintu latched on to a Mizan pass to beat an advanc ing East End custodian (2-1).
Nine minutes later Kaushik fired the ball into the net after former Brothers player and present East End captain Mamun Babu set him up with a good ball (2-2). Elast End now have four points from as many outings while Bima go up to two from four matches.
TODAY’S MATCHES
Dhanmondl vs Wanderers (4-30)
Brothers vs Arambagh (6-30).