Mohun Bagan lost 3-1 to Churchill Brothers to finish runners up in Durand Cup.
The match was a keenly contested one with both teams creating chances. While Odafe's effort hit post and Mohun Bagan made two goal line saves, similarly Micky's direct free kick was somehow saved by Arindam, and from rebound, Barretto almost scored but Robert brilliantly cleared the ball.
Mohun Bagan also came close to scoring when Masih headed the ball out from very close range off James well measured free kick. Two shots from Chiddi was brilliantly saved by Arindam to deny a certain goal.
Both teams could have got one penalty each, Barreto was brought down inside box off the ball and it looked like a certain penalty.
Mohun Bagan went ahead in extra time. From Subhojit's brilliant free kick, Chiddi headed the ball in, this was a brilliant execution of set-piece movement, but unfortunately after that team totally collapsed and Odafe scored 3 consecutive goals to seal the match in favor of Churchill Brothers.
Sangram played brilliant football but the first goal which he conceded he could have saved the ball. The second goal came via a defensive lapse, Odafe scored after two attempts were made at goal and defence could not clear the ball properly. The third goal came due to a rare mistake by Dipak Mandal when he lost possession of the ball quite easily in midfield and Odafa scored from counter attack.
Dipak and Masih were rock solid in defence till start of extra time. Surkumar somehow was not in his best of form. James and Snehasish tried their down the flank runs, but James somehow was a little subdued today. Coach made a big gamble by replacing James. May be replacing Kulu would have been a better option. Kuluthungan is not at all performing in midfield. Micky is also not being able to play well, but still today his performance was better than previous matches. It will be best if coach look for new options in central midfield.
Chiddi and Barreto tried a lot and their efforts should be applauded but they lacked support in upfront.
In I league, Marcos, Ishfaq, Tomba and Manju will join the team along with an Asian player which will surely stabilize the team a lot and Mohun Bagan will surely come back and perform well in I league, but coach will have to amend the errors in team and might have to change the team combination a bit to produce best result in I league.
It should be noted that out of all the Kolkata teams, only Mohun Bagan is performing consistently but somehow in last two tournaments, they lost in finals and finished runners up.
Mohun Bagan will start their I league campaign on October 5th.
TEAM: Sangram (captain), Mohanraj (Branco 106'), Dipak, Masih, Surkumar, Snehasish (Santa Kumar 67'), Micky, Kuluthungan, James Singh (Subhojit 86'), Barreto, Chiddi
