East Bengal Wins NFL

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Hindustan Times
1 May, 2001

East Bengal win maiden NFL crown
HT Correspondent
(New Delhi, April 30)

EAST BENGAL realised their dream of winning the National Football League title
when they defeated State Bank of Travancore (SBT) 2-0 at Thiruvananthapuram's
Chandrashekaran Nair Stadium today.

On the concluding day of the fifth edition of the NFL, when fortune smiled on
some teams and frowned at others, East Bengal scored once in each half
through their Nigerian striker Omolaja (43rd and 74th minutes) to bag their
maiden title and a cash award of Rs. 40 lakhs. With this defeat, SBT found
themselves relegated to the second division as they finished at the bottom
with 20 points.

Twice runners-up in the last four editions of the NFL, East Bengal won the
title with 46 points from 22 matches, pipping their arch Kolkata rivals Mohun
Bagan by one point. This was also their first major title outside Kolkata
since 1995 when they won Durand Cup in Delhi.

At Bangalore, holders and twice champions Mohun Bagan were left a frustrated
lot despite beating Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) 2-0 to take their
points tally to 45 points. With East Bengal also winning against SBT, Bagan
were forced to take the second spot and cash prize of Rs. 22 lakhs.

Mohun Bagan shot into the lead in the 42nd minute after Brazilian Jose
Barretto, the league's top scorer with 14 goals, essayed a superb centre from
the left to Basudeb Mondal, whose splendid header was right on target.

Lanky striker Amar Ganguly volleyed home off a James Singh pass in the 56th
minute to seal ITI's fate. Minutes before the final whistle, an altercation
broke out among the players and tempers ran high. Rival team players were
seen pushing around their opponents and police had to intervene to restore
normalcy.

Kenneth Raj of ITI and Mondal were given marching orders by the referee Suresh
Babu.

At Margao, Zee Churchill Brothers (Goa) managed to propel themselves to the
third spot in the points tally when they beat FC Kochin 3-1 after trailing by
a goal at the half time. While Churchill finished third with 36 points, that
is clear nine points behind runners-up Mohun Bagan, FC Kochin were reduced to
fourth place with 34 points.

Needing only a draw to finish third, FC Kochin took the lead in the 31st
minute through Aaron Cole.

But Churchill found the equaliser in 47th minute through Igor Shkrivin.

The hosts were in full flow in the second half and went into the lead in the
52nd minute through substitute Abhishek Yadav and increased the lead when
substitute Ajay Singh struck in the 73rd minute.

Churchill received a cash prize of Rs 16 lakh while FC Kochin received rupees
nine lakh for finishing fourth.

Things, however, turned out to be most frustrating for Air India, who could
not avoid the relegation despite beating Vasco Sports Club (Goa) 2-1 in
Mumbai. They increased their points tally to 21 yet had to take the 11th
place as JCT prevailed over Salgaocar 2-0 at Ludhiana to finish ninth.

Air India took the lead when captain Khemtang Paite scored a brilliant goal
off a cross given by Ratan Singh in the 14th minute. However, Vishant
Pednekar managed the equaliser for Vasco in the 16th minute. Ratan Singh
scored the match-winner during the injury time.

At Ludhiana, JCT took the lead through Ram Pal in the 37th minute and Hardip
Gill completed the tally in the 87th minute.

The defeats, however, did not make any change in the fortunes of Vasco and
Salgaocar, who remained in the prize money bracket, finishing fifth and sixth
respectively.

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