& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Slipping through BU’s fingers

Sports Reporter
Abahani ensured that Brothers Union will have nightmares of the ghost of 1985 for the next five days after they inflicted a damaging 2-1 defeat on the men in orange in a breathtaking Western Union Premier Division Football League encounter at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
With the only other tittle contenders Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra sailing past Badda Jagarani 3-0 in the day's first encounter, Brothers had to win to confirm a maiden crown. But it was not to be as Abahani striker Saiful Islam Khokon scored his second goal with a minute of regulation time remaining to set up a fascinating final 24 hours of the season. It was the second consecutive loss for the Gopibagh bigspenders after they had gone through 15 games unbeaten.
If Russell (35 points from 17 games) win as expected against lowly Wanderers on March 11 in their last outing, Brothers (37 points from 17 matches) must also see off Muktijoddha in the final match of the Premier Division the next day if they wish to become champions. Only a draw or a loss for Sheikh Russell will make the result against Muktijoddha irrelevant.
Brothers faced a similar situation in 1985 when they took on Abahani in a league deciding encounter which was also incidentally the last game of that year's championship. They only needed a draw but came unstuck against a charged up Abahani who fought back from 2-0 down to pip them 3-2 with an on-fire Sheikh Mohammad Aslam netting the winner.
"A tie would have been enough that time but this year we have no other option but to win. I would like to look at the scenario in a positive way as a do-or-die situation always brings out the best in players," said Brothers manager Amer Khan after the match.
"We dominated the match but luck didn't favour us. You don't expect a striker like Alfaz (Ahmed) to miss the two sitters, and on one occasion his header got away kissing the crosspiece," said the former Brothers booter adding that it would be a disaster for the expensively assembled club to drop the league after missing out on the Federation Cup earlier in the season.
Abahani, with nothing to lose, dominated from the onset of the match and almost took the lead in the 6th minute. But Mehedi Hasan Ujjal's blistering shot from top of the box hit the cross-bar and went out of play.
But an unmarked Khokon wasn't denied in the 25th minute when his well-directed header from an Abdullah Parvez cross from the right gave Brothers custodian Biplob no chance (1-0).
Brothers regrouped after swallowing the goal and created three chances with Alfaz sending the ball wide twice from handshaking distance.
Right after the breather they however got the equaliser but it was referee Maruf Sikder who surprised all by pointing to the spot after Alfaz went down inside the box without any apparent challenge from left-back Nicolai. Liton made no mistake to convert the penalty (1-1).
With the match heading for a draw, Khokon served the killer blow. He struck his tenth league goal when he just got a foot to a Ujjal cross and the ball rolled into the net past a flat-footed Biplob.
Abahani manager Monem Munna believed that it was poetic justice when Khokon netted his second goal to seal the match.
"I have never seen such a penalty decision. We played badly all through the league but you found a different Abahani in this match because we requested the players to give something to remember on the historic 7th March," said the former national defender.
Yellow cards: Francis, Iqbal, Arman (Brothers), Sila, Joy and Khokon (Abahani)
TEAMS
Abahani: Nizam, Siraji,
Osamanu, Sila, Masud Rana, Parvez (Hasan), Pranotosh, Joy, Nicolai, Khokon, Ujjal
Brothers Union: Biplob, Nazrul, Parvez Babu, Rajani, Sujon, Francis, Iqbal, Arman, Alfaz, Victor and Liton (Constantine).
Referee: Maruf Sikder.