Russel Finish Third

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Citycell B League
Russel finish third

Sports Reporter

Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra blanked Farashganj Sporting Club 2-0 to finish third in the Citycell B. League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Rajon Miah broke the deadlock after a drab first half with a spectacular volley and set up the second goal for veteran striker Alfaz Ahmed as Russel retained the third spot by improving their tally to 41 points.

The country's new powerhouse Russel finished the league three points behind runners-up Mohammedan and nine points adrift of Abahani, who retained the title in style by winning their last game against Rahmatganj 6-3 at the same venue on Monday.

Back in the day's match, it was a boring first half with both teams showing signs tiredness on the final day of a long and gruelling league that started on September 9 last year. The game however sprang to life when Rajon let loose a sublime volley off a Sameer Omari cross.

It took another five minutes for Rajon to provide a defence-slicing through pass to Alfaz who sealed the match with a scorching grounder. Standing at the wrong age of his luminous carrier, Alfaz with his 17th league goal this season showed that he might have lost some of his pace but his clinical finishing touches are as good as in his heydays.

This goal also put Alfaz tied in second place with Abahani's Emeka Christian in the leading scorer's list that Mohammedan's Alamu Bukola leads with 18 goals.

Farashganj finished sixth as the old city club remained at 26 points.

In the last game of the competition Brothers Union secured a 2-1 victory over Chittagong Mohammedan at the same venue.

Rony Islam put Brothers ahead in the 60th minute but Chittagong Mohammedan bounced back through a 71st minute strike from Guinea striker Rapheal Sagno.

Munna however confirmed the Gopibagh outfit's full points when he struck the match-winner in the 76th minute.

Brothers improved their tally to 37 points while Chittagong Mohammedan stayed at 30 points after playing 20 matches.

Abahani finish in style

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Abahani finish in style:
Thanks for Champion Abahani Citicell B league Winner

Abahani midfielder Mamun performs a back flip after scoring his side's opening goal against Rahmatganj Muslim Friends Society in their last Citycell B. League match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. Abahani celebrated their title triumph with a 6-3 thrashing of the old town outfit.

Abahani rounded off a championship-winning season in style by thumping Rahmatganj 6-3 in their final Citycell B. League game of the season at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Nigerian striker Emeka Christian struck an imperious hattrick as the Sky Blues set the record straight by thrashing a side who had beaten them 2-1 in the opening game of the season.

The result was only icing on the cake, and the poor turnout only validated that fact, as Abahani had already confirmed their second successive league title with a 2-1 win at Sheikh Russel in the previous matchday.

Away at Chittagong, league top-scorer Alamu Bukola struck twice as another popular Dhaka outfit Mohammedan finished runners-up after a 3-1 victory over Chittagong Abahani.

At the Bangabandhu National Stadium, with the title already in the bag Amalesh Sen's charges struck up a brand of exciting football with Emily, Zahed Parvez and Mamun also getting on the scoresheet alongside Emeka.

Rahmatganj replied through two Francis penalties while Hirok netted the other.

The big Nigerian, Emeka, a constant thorn in the side of other defences this year, finished with 17 goals, just one shy of Bukola who scored 18 for the season.

The only downside for the Sky Blues was that they celebrated the end of a successful campaign infront of a small crowd.

However, coach Amalesh Sen could not stop smiling.

"Our football standard has declined in the last few years and the country didn't see any action in the last season. So it's time to bring back the old crowd and I am hopeful," said Amalesh who had a poor start in the season when his side lost the curtain raiser Federation Cup.

"I think it's (the championship) totally a combined effort but if you want to single out any player, he is none other than Yussif (Samad)," said the veteran coach, praising his Ghanaian center-back.

In the end, it was Abahani's strength in depth that paid dividends as they managed to cover for lengthy absences of inspirational captain Arif Khan Joy, defenders Nazrul and Sujon and attacker Ujjal.

Abahani won the title with a six-point margin and their good management of resources contributed to that fact. They started the season in poor fashion but managed to come out on top in all the major battles of the season, disposing of Mohammedan, Russel and Brothers. In addition they also strung together a record nine-match winning run.

Amalesh also observed that his players have a better chemistry than the other teams.

"They have had very good understanding because they trained together for long," said Amalesh.

Abahani had continued their camp last season despite there were no action on the field.

Away at the MA Aziz Stadium, Dhaka Mohammedan had needed only one point to confirm the runners-up gong but came up all three when Bukola scored twice in the 3rd and 14th minutes and Hazem netted one in the 51st minute.

Mithun pulled back one for the local Abahani in the 23rd minute from a penalty to finish with 23 points.

In the day's other inconsequential match, Muktijoddha Sangsad finished with a 2-1 victory over Khulna Abahani at the Khulna Stadium.

Moni and Kanchan scored for the struggling Muktijoddha, who were lackluster in this season while Bhasani netted the lone goal for the losers.

Bottom-side Khulna have five points and Muktijoddha finished with 13 points to be placed 10th in the eleven-team fray.

Local Football Result

11 February 2009, Wednesday, 07:05 pm

Citycell B League 2008:
Bukola scored 4 goals against Khulna Abahani today in BNS11 Feb 09

Dhaka Mohammedan 4 VS Khulna Abahani 0 Scorers:
Bukola 8', 24'(Penalty), 26' & 87' (Hattrick)

Next Match (12 Feb 09)Brothers Union VS Farashganj, BNS, 4:30pm

Citycell 3rd Division Football League (11-02-09)
1st Mach: BKSP 1 (Akbar Ali Kanon 65') VS Swadhinota KS
02nd Match: Onirban Sangha 0 VS Kosaituli 0

Citycell B League

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Another Bukola treble:

Mohammedan Sporting Club's prolific Nigerian striker Bukola (L) leaves a Khulna Abahani player in his wake during their Citycell B.League match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. Bukola struck four goals in his side's 4-0 win against the Khulna lightweights. Photo: STARSports Reporter

Alamu Bukola slammed his second hattrick of the league as Mohammedan Sporting Club brightened their chances of finishing runners-up in the Citycell B. League with an emphatic 4-0 win over Khulna Abahani in their second leg tie at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

The Nigerian striker, who struck his first treble against Muktijoddha Sangsad, scored three goals in the first-half and added another after the breather to become top scorer in the league with 16 goals by surpassing Sheikh Russel's Alfaz Ahmed's 15.

Having Abahani already confirmed the title with a match in hand, the only interest left in the league is the runners-up race between Mohammedan and Sheikh Russel and yesterday's result put the popular Black and Whites in an advantageous position.

The winners improved their tally to 41 points from 19 outings, six points ahead of Sheikh Russel, who have two matches in hand.

Mohammedan will need only one point when they visit to Chittagong to play their last match against Chittagong Abahani on February 16 to become runners-up for the second successive season. If they fail to get the point from their last game in the port city and Sheikh Russel win their remaining two games against Rahmatganj and Farashganj, then both sides will have equal points and have to lock horns for a play-off to decide the runners-up.

On the other hand the sixth defeat ensured Khulna Abahani's demotion from the top flight as the Sky Blues from the southern city earned only five points from 19 matches, five points behind 10th-placed struggling Muktijoddha Sangsad.

Back to the day's match, Bukola put Mohammedan ahead only in the eighth minute when he placed an Enamul Haq Sharif pass home inside the danger zone.

Then referee Abdul Hannan Miron awarded Mohammedan a spot kick following Khulna Abahani defender Ranjit Kumar Paul's handling a shot from opponent Hazem Khaled Mahmood.

The lanky Bukola made no mistake to convert the penalty to double the margin in the 24th minute. Just after two minutes, Sharif whipped a well-judged cross from the left to Bukola, who rose maximum to head the cross home, completing his hattrick to join Alfaz on 15 goals each.

Bukola extended the margin by scoring his fourth goal three minutes from time.

It was the league's eighth hattrick after Alfaz, Arambagh's Nicodemus Ananda, Abahani's Zahid Hasan Emily, Rahmatganj's Idris Kasiry, Farahganj's Anamul Haq and Chittagong Mohammedan's Mithun Chowdhury.

TEAMS
MOHAMMEDAN: Himel, Saikat, Munna, Dami, Sharif, Arman, Maruf (Faisal), Hazem (Pappu), Bukola, Komol and Ripon.
KHULNA ABAHANI: Saifullah, Nahid, Kochi, Shahinoor, Ranjit, Ashiqul, Kamruzzaman, Tarikul, Monjurul, Hakim and Milton (Hadiuzzaman).
Referee: Abdul Hannan Miron.

BFF Calendar 2009

Too much rest for top footballers !

Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) kept its promise to keep the game on field for at least ten months every year but the partial domestic calendar (till December 2009) published for the season 2009-10 shows that the country's top footballers will get very little action in six months.

After the Super Cup, the three-week mega event which is expected to kick off March 6, the top booters will join national camp for preparation for next May's AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in Dhaka.

Club commitment also ends in May after Abahani play the AFC President's Cup qualifiers also at home.

After just a handful of games in April and May, there would be no top-level domestic or international competitions in June-July when football goes indoors in shape of futsal (for Division 1 and II players only) due to the monsoon.

The 2009-10 season starts in October with the Federation Cup, which will be followed up by the third B. League in November.

BFF member and ex-general secretary Anwarul Hoque Helal, however, defended the schedule.

"We are going to give the footballers two months off: that would be June and July when the rains take control. With the transfer window opening in August, the teams will actually start preparation for the next season in the same month," said Helal yesterday.

"We think the players should be given at least two months to get fit again. So these two months are part of their active time," he opined.

The calendar's international part also did not include the proposed Bangladesh-Sri Lanka home and away football series, which was billed for next month.

"Yes, Sri Lanka were due to arrive here on March 15 to play two matches on March 17 and 19 after the Prime Minister's Cup in Nepal. But we cannot accommodate them at that time for the Super Cup," Helal informed.

"We have decided to cancel it and the Lankan federation will soon be informed of this. We don't know when we can plan the reciprocal tours because we both would be busy for the Challenge Cup.

"We have also decided to host an international tournament in November instead of December so the next B. League is not interrupted much. With the SAFF Championship scheduled for December, it would take more than four months to complete the B. League."

Helal informed that whether it would be a national or club competition depends on availability of the teams.

"We won't get the South Asians for the SAFF Championship. So it would be South East Asians or teams from the Asean, like Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Hong Kong or Singapore. If we can get those teams, it would also be a good preparation for us ahead of the SAFF."

Grand Super Cup in Mar

BFF to start next year season in Oct

Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) finalised the calendar for 2009 with a new concept, as they planned to start the season from next year from October 1. In an emergency meeting of the BFF executives on Monday approved the calendar of 2009 and decided to begin their next season from October while it would start this season with the Super Cup tournament. The eight team Super Cup, a big budgeted grand tournament of the season, will be organised with the participation of the top eight of the ongoing B-League and it will start from March 6. According to the new calendar, the Swadhinata Cup Football tournament will get underway from at the end of March, the first division teams, BKSP and the services teams will take part in the tournament. The National Club Championship will be organised with involving the district teams across the country from April while the national team camp will also start from April ahead of the AFC Challenge Cup, Bangladesh will host the four-nation qualifying phase competition at the end of May. Meanwhile, the Dhaka Abahani Limited, the champions of the CityCell B-League will host the AFC President Cup also in May. At the end of 2009 BFF will organise a big international football tournament but it would depend on the invited foreign nations' consent. The clearance of the players of the inter-club for B-League will be held in July-August while September and October preserved for international tournament. Kazi Mohammedan Salahuddin, president of the BFF, disclosed all to press at the midway of their Emergency Committee meeting, while the BFF vice presidents Badal Roy, Manzoor Hossain Malu, Shawkat Ali Khan Jahangir, Kazi Nabil Ahmed, executive members, Harun-ur-Rashid, Sirajul Islam Bachchu, Anwarul Haque Helal and Golam Rabbani Helal were also present. Replying to a query Salahuddin said that he had a positive discussion with the Dhaka Abahani Limited and Mohammedan Sporting Club about the availability of the their booters during the national team affairs. Salahuddin explained to another query said that all the domestic and international tournaments will take place or Bangladesh will play, but their main objective is to prepare a strong national side eyeing to the SA Games will be held early 2010. "Past is past, what was happened, is not my concerned but I can assure you that the calendar, we prepared will be strictly followed." Salahuddin replied to a query.