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Played
August 8, 2010 5:00 PM IST
August 8, 2010 5:00 PM IST
Santosh Trophy: Denson Devadas Powers West Bengal To Win Their 30th Santosh Trophy Title
Bengal are the champions...
By Rahul Bali
Riding on a brace by Denson Devadas, West Bengal came back to win the 64th Santosh Trophy after trailing 1-0 down with Balwant Singh giving the lead to Punjab. The eastern state has won the tournament for a record 30th time and after a gap of 11 years and deservedly so.
Shabbir Ali guided Bengal to their first triumph in the new decade as Jaagir Singh couldn't see his dream of winning three Santosh Trophies actualize.
West Bengal started with a 4-4-2 formation with Tarif Ahmed partnering Robin Singh in attack while Punjab opted for Randeep Singh in place of the suspended Gurpreet Singh.
The match started with Bengal looking hungrier of the two sides as they made attacking forays and enjoyed decent possession to trouble Punjab.
Robin Singh continues his good form as he brilliantly found Tarif Ahmed in good space but the ONGC striker took a touch too many to allow Harpreet Singh to get the ball off him inside the opening ten minutes.
Around the 18th minute, Robin Singh was in the thick of things as he brushed aside Harpreet Singh to cross for Tarif Ahmed whose header came off the sidebar.
The midfield duo of Jayanta Sen and Denson Devadas showed their class as they stamped their authority on the play and never allowed Punjab to have any say in the middle of the park.
However, a mistake by Abhra Mondal and Rajiv Ghosh resulted in Balwant Singh scoring the opening goal of the match from a Rahul Kumar cross as the goalkeeper came off his line to miss the ball completely in the 30th minute.
Shabbir Ali immediately changed personnel as Souvik Chakraborty was brought in for Tarif Ahmed who looked rusty.
Following the goal, Punjab looked more confident than they were in the opening half hour with Amandeep Singh sending in a couple of good crosses.
It was in the injury time of the first half that Bengal found their equaliser through Denson Devadas as he headed in a corner from Snehashish Chakraborty as the Punjab defence went to sleep for a moment.
At the start of the second half, Jaagir Singh substituted Gurwinder Singh for Praveen Kumar in the central midfield. This proved to be one of the turning points of the game as thereafter, Bengal controlled the proceedings completely.
The entire Punjab side was behind the ball and in their own half with their only movement being towards their own goal. Snehashish Chakraborty was menacing down the left flank and constantly troubled Rahul Kumar with his pace.
Gauranga Dutta, who had a forgettable day for his side, put in a decent delivery after some good dribbling only to see Robin head it wide and the linesman raise his flag for offside in the 57th minute.
The same trend continued and it was thanks to Harpreet Singh that the scoreline remained the same as he cleared off the line with Arnab Mondal and Snehashish Chakraborty combining off the latter’s cornerkick before the final quarter.
The monotony of the second session was at last broken by a Denson Devadas screamer with Robin laying it up for him just outside the box with twelve minutes to go.
Punjab looked pale in contrast to Bengal and couldn’t come up with anything substantial despite some fresh legs being added in the form of Rohit Kumar and Warun Deep.
The scoreline remained the same and Shabbir Ali and his boys were the worthy winners of the Santosh Trophy dominating the game entirely.
Well done Bengal!
Shabbir Ali guided Bengal to their first triumph in the new decade as Jaagir Singh couldn't see his dream of winning three Santosh Trophies actualize.
West Bengal started with a 4-4-2 formation with Tarif Ahmed partnering Robin Singh in attack while Punjab opted for Randeep Singh in place of the suspended Gurpreet Singh.
The match started with Bengal looking hungrier of the two sides as they made attacking forays and enjoyed decent possession to trouble Punjab.
Robin Singh continues his good form as he brilliantly found Tarif Ahmed in good space but the ONGC striker took a touch too many to allow Harpreet Singh to get the ball off him inside the opening ten minutes.
Around the 18th minute, Robin Singh was in the thick of things as he brushed aside Harpreet Singh to cross for Tarif Ahmed whose header came off the sidebar.
The midfield duo of Jayanta Sen and Denson Devadas showed their class as they stamped their authority on the play and never allowed Punjab to have any say in the middle of the park.
However, a mistake by Abhra Mondal and Rajiv Ghosh resulted in Balwant Singh scoring the opening goal of the match from a Rahul Kumar cross as the goalkeeper came off his line to miss the ball completely in the 30th minute.
Shabbir Ali immediately changed personnel as Souvik Chakraborty was brought in for Tarif Ahmed who looked rusty.
Following the goal, Punjab looked more confident than they were in the opening half hour with Amandeep Singh sending in a couple of good crosses.
It was in the injury time of the first half that Bengal found their equaliser through Denson Devadas as he headed in a corner from Snehashish Chakraborty as the Punjab defence went to sleep for a moment.
At the start of the second half, Jaagir Singh substituted Gurwinder Singh for Praveen Kumar in the central midfield. This proved to be one of the turning points of the game as thereafter, Bengal controlled the proceedings completely.
The entire Punjab side was behind the ball and in their own half with their only movement being towards their own goal. Snehashish Chakraborty was menacing down the left flank and constantly troubled Rahul Kumar with his pace.
Gauranga Dutta, who had a forgettable day for his side, put in a decent delivery after some good dribbling only to see Robin head it wide and the linesman raise his flag for offside in the 57th minute.
The same trend continued and it was thanks to Harpreet Singh that the scoreline remained the same as he cleared off the line with Arnab Mondal and Snehashish Chakraborty combining off the latter’s cornerkick before the final quarter.
The monotony of the second session was at last broken by a Denson Devadas screamer with Robin laying it up for him just outside the box with twelve minutes to go.
Punjab looked pale in contrast to Bengal and couldn’t come up with anything substantial despite some fresh legs being added in the form of Rohit Kumar and Warun Deep.
The scoreline remained the same and Shabbir Ali and his boys were the worthy winners of the Santosh Trophy dominating the game entirely.
Well done Bengal!
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