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Abahani upstage archrivals

Face Usha in final today

Sports Reporter
Abahani booked their place in the final of the Walton Club Cup Hockey
national team players and an Indian international Gurpreet Singh apart from local stars Russel Mahmud Jimmy and Mamunur Rahman Chayan.
Abahani, although not a pre-
Tournament defeating archrivals Mohammedan SC 5-4 in tiebreakers at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday.
Normal time ended with the score on 3-3 as the semifnal went to the tiebreak where Abahani converted all five of their penalties while Mohammedan converted all but one. Sheikh Mohammad Nannu's feeble attempt was easily stopped by Abahani goalkeeper Zahid Hasan who had a brilliant outing, thwarting numerous attempts from the Mohammedan forwards.
The match had its fair share of everything; international players, local stars, goals, on-field action and crowd participation, even though the quality of the match left something to be desired.
Both teams had strengthened their squads with foreign recruits. Mohammedan's big-budget team had a big German goalkeeper, two Malaysian
tournament favourite, had also strengthened their side with three Pakistanis. And it was the Abahani recruits who had a bigger impact on the game with Alim Billal striking twice and Mohammad Mudassar netting the other for the men in yellow. Mohammedan's four foreigners were comparatively off colour, leaving them to rely on local penalty corner specialist Mamunur Rahman Chayan for two of their goals and winger Sheikh Mohammad Nannu for the other. Abahani goalkeeper Zahid Hassan was in sparkling form as he thwarted numerous attempts from the Mohammedan strikers to keep his side in the match before making the match-winning save.
Any Mohammedan versus Abahani match, especially in hockey, cannot end without some incidents and there were some in the second half. Mohammedan had cancelled Abahani's early lead late in the first half as tempers started to flare at both ends. Five minutes after the breather, Abahani defender Yeamin Hossain's stick appeared to brush across Russel Mahmud Jimmy's face and the Mohammedan forward fell to the ground and started writhing in agony, as if he had been charged by baton. Supporters showed their solidarity by throwing pieces of plastic chairs on to the ground. Play was halted forseveral minutes.
Another similar incident followed soon; this time the roles were reversed. Mohammedan defender Kamruzzaman Rana's stick had barely touched Abahani midfielder Moshiur Rahman's feet before he started rolling all over the turf. The crowd's reaction was similarto thepriorincident.
Abahani coach Mahbub Harun believed it was a victory of tactics over his counterpart Gerhard Peter Rach.
“They kept playing all out attack with all their forwards playing at forward positions, while we only used two of the attackers and used the three Pakistanis, who are basically forwards in midfield position, as part of a counter attacking approach. In the end, the strategy was vindicated."
Rach attributed the missed chances for the defeat.
“Our strikers missed numerous opportunities and had to pay for that. They had no heart and seemed to have iron in their legs. This defeat will serve us as an evaluation opportunity for the future."
Harun's side will meet Usha KC in the final today, who thrashed Sonali Bank 9-2 in the other semifnal yesterday. The final will start at 3:00pm at the same venue.