Super Cup -- Bengaluru FC earn a thumping 4-1 triumph over exasperated East Bengal

For the first time, clouds covered the sun in the middle of the first half, and the accompanying cool winds provided some respite from the terrible Bhubaneswar heat to players and supporters alike.

For the first time, the Kalinga Stadium saw a full house, with the local population finally taking an interest in the elite tournament happening at their doorstep; a rare treat for a state without a top level football club.

For the first time, the brand new Super Cup trophy was unveiled for the public to see. East Bengal and Bengaluru FC, two old foes, faced each other for the first time in over a year, to earn the rights to lift it for the very first time.

For the larger East Bengal family, Friday held various ominous signs from early morning. More than a thousand fans who began their journey from Kolkata by train could not make it due to the train being late. Then, dozens of Red and Gold faithfuls were denied entry into the stadium because they were carrying bags; a restriction imposed for the very first time in this tournament.

The run of bad luck continued to chase East Bengal even as the start of the game approached. Dudu Omagbemi, their most succesful striker of the competition, did not start for reasons the club management did not specify, giving air to rumours of discord within the team.

Then, minutes after the match began, an early chance that came when Kromah chased a long ball and almost set himself up with a one-on-one with the BFC keeper, both Gurpreet and Johnson came running at him. Johnson tripped him in an obvious last-man foul, and Gurpreet came crashing onto both of them. What should have been at least one red card, referee S.M.Krishna managed with two yellow cards. It was a huge let-off for the Blues, who continued their stronghold over the game for about ten minutes more before it temporarily turned.

Ralte's wingplay saw East Bengal make back to back attacks and earn a couple of corners. Soon, one such corner was delivered right at the goalmouth. Gurpreet managed to get one hand on it, slapping it away from the goal. But the ball went straight to Kromah who sent it into the net with a beautiful bicycle kick. Near the half hour mark, the scoreboard read 1-0 to East Bengal.

But this was precisely where Bengaluru FC made a comeback. Pressing the midfield a bit forward and some increased running was all it took from the BFC players to expose the holes in East Bengal defence. At the 36 minute mark they almost equalised when Eric Paartalu found Miku in the box but Eduardo stopped him with a risky but clean tackle. But just a couple of minutes later, Rahul Bheke, completely unmarked, got a header on target from close range, and Luis Barreto was nowhere near prepared for that.

To make matters worse for East Bengal, Samad Ali Mallick smacked BFC halfback Subhashish Bose out of the blue, earning himself a red card just before half-time, reducing East Bengal to ten men.

At half-time, the scoreboard read 1-1. But there was no mistaking the sense of an impending blue storm as rainclouds over the arena continued to thicken.

When the game resumed, things went as expected. East Bengal found the net early on but Al Amnah was already caught in an offside position in the lead up so it was disallowed. Then, Gurwinder Singh practically gifted BFC a second goal when he handled a cross from Subhashish Bose inside the box. Sunil Chhetri took the penalty and easily converted, sending BFC 2-1 up with about 20 minutes to go.

Down a man and down a goal, East Bengal gave up. Just a couple of minutes afterwards, Toni Dovale sent a cross into the EB box that Miku buried. And going into the added time, Sunil Chhetri scored another goal, to make it another four goal affair for the BFC offence.

It was redemption for the Blues. After losing the ISL final, juggling domestic and AFC fixtures all season, they finally got their hands on a trophy, making sure they did not remain trophyless even for one season since their inception.

For East Bengal fans, the heartbreak was palpable. After fighting hard throughout the tournament, the final saw some decisions and situations go against them. But instead of fighting back against adversity like BFC did in their semi-final match, the Red and Golds were ultimately outplayed by their former rivals. And thus it went down; as rains came down on Bhubaneswar making the unbearable heat disappear, all that was left was pure footballing warmth - an emphatic, well-deserved 4-1 victory for Bengaluru FC.