Mohammedan Sporting bury BNR in massive 7-0 win at the CFL

29/08/2015 - IT WASN'T MUCH OF A FIGHT. Mohammedan Sporting pretty much dominated proceedings from the get go, almost toying with the Bengal & Nagpur Railways team for most of the game. By the time the nightmarish (for BNR) 90 minutes got over, the Black and Whites had recorded their biggest win in recent memory, beatin BNR by a margin of 7-0.

In the well-attended match held at Barasat Stadium, Mohammedan opened their account in the 6th minute as Deepak sent in a cross, which Bijay Mandi sent right in. A minute later, Tanmoy stole the ball from BNR in the midfield, ran up the left flank, sent in a pass for Ajoy Singh who made no mistake. Two nil.

BNR immediately went into panic mode, trying their hardest to hold off onslaughts from Mohammedan, often aimlessly clearing the ball whenever it fell to them. The Black Panthers got a few more chances in succession but squandered them until in the 38th minute Tanmoy sent a ball through to Deepak who put it past the BNR goalkeeper, making it 3-0. The score remained the same till halftime.

But the second half saw more of the same as goal after goal came for Mohammedan Sporting, with Bernard, Dipendu Dowari, Sueaj Mondal and Nuruddin all getting on the scoresheet. When the final whistle came, it was a sigh of relief for BNR, as the margin of loss could have easily been much bigger.

Even in a tournament with a long history like the Calcutta Football League, 7 goals in a match is a rare occurence. As such, this win will remain in the Mohammedan supporters' memories for a years to come. It was not, however, the biggest margin of victory ever in the CFL. But that record, incidentally, already belong to Mohammedan Sporting. They beat Customs 10-0 in 1942.

The win takes Mohammedan Sporting to 14 points from 7 matches, and they are presently at the top of the CFL table. However, East Bengal are just one point behind them, with two matches at hand. It is not very likely that Mohammedan Sporting will remain at the top after East Bengal are done playing SAI tomorrow. But Mohammedan Sporting coach Mridul Banerjee will still take heart at the fact that seven of his players got on the scoresheet on the same match. And if an opportunity to clinch the CFL title for the first time since 1981 does come their way, they will be more than ready for it.