EB are ‘psyched’ up

Calcutta: East Bengal’s shock loss against Prayag United in their last I-League match has not only affected their case on the points table, it has also pegged them back mentally.

In an effort to win back the lost confidence ahead of Saturday’s Derby clash against eternal rivals Mohun Bagan, the red and gold brigade have sought the help of a psychologist — Soumitra Chatterjee. On Thursday, the players had an one-and-a-half hour long session with Chatterjee.

“The main purpose of the session was to boost our sagging morale… He told us inspirational stories and asked us to forget about the past and concentrate on the present,” a senior player said after the session.

“We were a bit disheartened after our loss to Prayag United in the last match… So, the club officials arranged a session with the psychologist. He asked us to believe in our abilities and remain confident before the big match,” the player added.

Saturday’s Derby clash would be the third in the season. Bagan have got the better of Trevor James Morgan’s team on the last two occasions. East Bengal, therefore, are desperate for a win. “We are not thinking about revenge. But, we will play our hearts out. We are desperate to win,” Sanju Pradhan said after Thursday’s practice session.

On being asked how the side is shaping up before the Derby, Sanju said: “We were playing well till we conceded a silly goal in the waning moments of the match (against United). We thought we will not discuss the topic with Gurpreet (Singh Sandhu, the ’keeper) since he is a young player… He will under unnecessary pressure if we make it an issue.”

Morgan sounded more cautious as he said: “We will be careful this time… If we lose against Bagan and Dempo win (their match), there will be a nine-point difference between the two sides.”

East Bengal are currently trailing leaders Dempo with 34 points from 18 matches. Bagan are in the third place with 33 points after playing the same number of matches.

Bagan coach Prasanta Banerjee said that his side is ready for the big match. “We have an absolutely fit side… A win will boost our chances in the I-League,” Prasanta said. But Bagan may miss the services of Syed Rahim Nabi. He hurt his hamstring last week in the match against Pailan Arrows.

Odafe brace in Bagan win

Kochi: Striker Okolie Odafe scored twice to help McDowell Mohun Bagan beat Chirag United 3-1 in the 18th round I-League encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here on Tuesday.

Odafe scored both the goals from penalty in 35th and 84th minute, while Jose Ramirez Barreto scored in the 86th minute. Anil Kumar scored the solitary goal for United in 47th minute.

Bagan were playing without Sunil Chhetri and Syed Rahim Nabi but Odafe and Barreto proved enough to rattle the home side.

The home side started on a positive note with Anil and David Sunday, who played in the front in absence of Ajayan. But their dominance lasted only for first 30 minutes as Mohun Bagan took control of the game soon after.

Odafe made no mistake in converting a penalty to give his side the lead. The scoreline remained unchanged till the half-time.

United equalised after the break when Anil Kumar scored from Asif’s lofted pass.

The home side upped their game after scoring the goal and managed to create a couple of chances.

But Odafe again gave mariners the lead, when Jimshad U handled the ball on the goalline, prompting referee Rowan to show the second red card and award a penalty.

Barreto increased the margin for the visitors in the 86th minute.

Odafe was adjudged man of the match. Mohun Bagan now have 33 points from 18 matches, one point behind East Bengal and four behind table-topper Dempo. United remained on 11 points from 17 matches.

IN THE CITY

Md.Sp. drub Bhukailash

Mohammedan Sporting beat Bhukailash SC by a mammoth 260 runs in the two-day 1st division league match, on Sunday. Shamsed Hossain scalped five for 44 to help his team dismiss Bhukailash SC for 164 runs.

Summarised scores

Md. Sporting Club 424/8. Bhukailash SC 164 (Bikramaditya Majumdar 56, Shamsed Hossain 5/44). Md. Sporting Club won by 260 runs.

Mohun Bagan 390/9. Suburban Club 190 (Arka Saha 62, Shankhadeep Chatterjee 56). Mohun Bagan won by 200 runs.

Tapan Memorial 333. Police AC 317 (Tapan Koiri 96, Sultan Ansari 59, Subham Dey 54, Pradip Parashar 5/90). Tapan Memorial won by 16 runs.

Young Bengal SA 297. East Bengal 298/4 (Writam Porel 110 not out, Bidyut Adhikary 84, Jitendra Shaw 3/50). East Bengal won by 6 wickets.

Belgachia United Club 260. Town Club 265/4 (Naved Ahmed 89, Abhishek Banerjee 61). Town Club won by 6 wickets.

Wari AC 454/9. Taltala Ekata Sangha 189 (Rakesh Sharma 5/64). Wari AC won by 265 runs.

Barisha SC 196. YMCA 201/4 (Mirza Danish Alam 91). YMCA won by 6 wickets.

Paikpara SC 372. Kumartuli Institute 273 (Anurag Tiwari 4/66). Paikpara SC won by 99 runs.

Rajasthan 209. Aikya Sammilani 210/3 (Ritwik Roy Choudhury 83). Aikya Sammilani won by 7 wickets.

Dalhousie AC 380. George Telegraph SC 264 (Sunil Upadhyay 80, Deepalok Chatterjee 76, Pappu Roy 3/41). Dalhousie AC won by 116 runs.

Eastern Railway SA 272/9. Bhowanipore Club 181/3 (Abhishek Das 50). Bhowanipore Club won by 7 wickets. (Due to bad light target was rescheduled to 181 runs in 56 overs)

ABP SC 334. NSI 315 (Anup Samaddar 132, Ranabir Nath 60). ABP SC won by 19 runs.

PLS teams

The Camellia Group, with a bid of Rs 11.50 crore, will own the Calcutta franchise of the Premier League Soccer (PLS).

The other franchisee holders are Uro Infra Reality India Ltd (Barasat franchise), Tulip Infonet (India) Pvt. Ltd (Durgapur franchise), Aajay Consultants (Siliguri franchise) and Syncsys Infotech (P) Ltd (Howrah franchise). However, the Haldia franchise went unsold and so the players’ auction, on Monday, will be between the five franchisee owners.

IN THE CITY

Sil stars in Bagan win

Mohun Bagan thrashed Mohammedan Sporting by six wickets in a CAB two-day first division league match on Tuesday.

Sourav Sil scalped five for 14 as Mohammedan Sporting were bundled out for a meagre 85.

Summarised scores

Mohammedan Sporting 85 (Sourav Sil 5/14). Mohun Bagan 86/4 (Avishek Jhunjhunwala 64). Mohun Bagan won by 6 wickets l Shambazar 516 vs Tollygunge Agragami l Wari AC 276/9 vs East Bengal l Tapan Memorial 427 (Anup Barik 157) vs Suburban Club l Bhukailash SC 346 (Rohit Bashit 5/95). Shibpur Institute 22/1 l Police AC 436/8 (Deep Chatterjee 164) vs Taltala l Young Bengal SA 423/7 (Debagini Basu 152, Himadri Chakraborty 107) vs Belgachia United Club l Aryan 329 (Pratik Majumdar 6/102). Dakshin Kalikata Sansad 19/1 l BNR 229. WB Police 14/0 l Ballygunge UC 262 (Abid Khan 4/71, Iresh Saxena 3/54). Kalighat 60/1 l Milan Samity 347 (Abhishek Das 111 not out, Debrup Das 63, Jyoish Das 3/64). Customs Club 42/1 l Port Trust 234/9 (Srijit Ghoshal 88, Sourav Mondal 3/64) vs Sporting Union

Bagan held by George

Calcutta: McDowell Mohun Bagan squandered a two-goal lead, to settle for a 2-2 draw against less fancied Tower George Telegraph in a CFL match, at the club ground, here, on Friday.

The draw meant Bagan, who have 11 points from six matches, are now seven points behind arch-rivals East Bengal.

The red and gold brigade have virtually retained the CFL title for it’s near-impossible for Mohun Bagan to wipe out the seven-point deficit in this 11-team tournament.

The CFL Derby is slated for January 7 and a victory will seal the title for Morgan’s men.

The green and maroon brigade dominated the match, creating a number of chances. In the 24th minute, Syed Rahim Nabi received a Kinshuk Debnath pass from the centre of the park.

Nabi left it for Jewel Raja, whose shot rippled the bottom right corner of the net. Three minutes later, Shiladitya Seth, was given a straight red for committing a foul on Jewel.

In the 40th minute, under-19 debutant Manish Bhargav received a ball from Rakesh Masih, and turned Sreekanto Koley inside out to score a brilliant goal.

By then, things looked bleak for Biswajit Bhattacharya’s men.

However, Emeka Chukwu scored two second-half goals to stun Bagan. The first came in the 65th minute, when Orok Orok’s cute pass found Emeka, who converted with a powerful strike.

The second came two minutes later, when Emeka converted a penalty.