Chirag take a major leap

Published>Mon, Nov 08 10 06:48 AM

Mohammad Rafique's celebrations after he had scored the winning goal was evidence of what Chirag United had just accomplished. Coming into existence only in 2006 and playing their first major final, Chirag claimed the Durand Cup, the world's third oldest football competition, by a lone goal on Sunday. And against the five-time winners JCT, with an almost non-existent defence and a hobbling goalkeeper, the 'minnows' did the improbable.

The win makes Chirag the fourth team from Kolkata to win the title after East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting ? and the first since 2002.

It probably explains the delirious celebrations in the largely Chirag-supporting crowd, and the bare-chested, shirt-waving run by Rafique in the 76th minute after scoring the winner.

The credit for that, though, must go to substitute Arnab Mondal who came in for Justine Stephens at the stroke of half hour ? Mondal sent in a precise long cross from inside the Chirag defence that found captain and Man of the Tournament Josimar Da Silva Martine hovering on the edge of the penalty box. Josimar wrong-footed a JCT defender and sent the ball to Rafique and the latter, with just the goalkeeper to beat, made no mistake in slotting the ball in the top-left corner.

Sound start

Chirag had been on the lookout for that goal from the word go, getting their first few chances early in the first half. Rafique failed to find the net with a header in the 10th minute, while Josimar was guilty of wasting a brilliant set-up from Rafique two minutes later.

Chirag were clearly the dominant team, but suffered a crucial blow minutes before the halftime as they lost mercurial defender Chika Wali, who was their best player in the competition.

Wali had to be substituted after he clashed with goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal. The clash left Mondal too hobbling for the entire second half. However, he managed to not only clear a couple of corner kicks but also held up the post in the face of the rare JCT offensive.

With the Punjab team relying more on aerial balls, Chirag players preferred playing along the ground.

While for most of the Chirag players this was their first-ever experience of playing a big final, coach Subrata Bhattacharjee achieved the distinction of becoming the only coach to win the tournament with two different clubs ? he won the title with Mohun Bagan in 2000.

"This team was different from my days with big teams like Bagan that had the best players. Here, I had to plot specifically for every opposition team keeping in mind my team's strengths and limited resources. But we proved today that we are a small team only in name, not in performance," a proud Bhattacharjee said after the match.

Source: Web Search