By Shoubhik Mukhopadhyay
I-League Media

NEW DELHI: Round 12 of Hero I-League saw two high-scoring draws in Goa and one massive win for the new entrant DSK Shivajians at their backyard against Kingfisher East Bengal. Defending Champions Mohun Bagan’s trip to Aizawl has been postponed to 26th March due to their AFC Cup fixture. Meanwhile, the Mariners have prevailed over the Honk Kong side South China in their second match of the AFC Cup with a thumping 0-4 victory.

For the first time this season, Salgaocar FC started without their ace striker Darryl Duffy who is currently leading the scorers list with nine goals from ten matches. Santosh Kashyap started with the Australian attacker Calvin Mbarga who has already opened his account in the ongoing Hero I-League along with Semboi Haokip who put a lot of pressure on the Mumbai FC defenders right from the beginning. In the 22nd minute, Jackichand Singh opened the scoreline for the Greens with his swashbuckling effort down the left flank. 15 minutes later, Reagan Singh miscued his challenge and the referee didn’t hesitate to indicate to the 6-yard spot in favour of Mumbai FC. The veteran striker Sushil Singh equalized for the Away team outfoxing Karanjit Singh, who’s not enjoying the best of form this season.

Two minutes into the second half, Salgaocar FC restored their lead once again when Brain Mascarenhas scored a stunning goal from 40 yards out, leaving the Mumbai FC goalie Pawan Kumar completely dumbfounded. Referee Animesh Biswas awarded the second penalty of the day in favour of the Mumbai outfit when Gilbert Oliviera tripped Ryuki Kozowa inside the box. The Japanese striker calmly slotted it home to draw parity to the scoreline. With Introduction of the fresh pair of legs, both gaffers tried to grab a late goal but none could find the winner till the final whistle.

Bengaluru FC travelled to Goa to wreck vengeance on Sporting Clube de Goa, who had gotten the better of them at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in the first leg. The Steelmen got hurt within first ten minutes when Curtis Osano had to be withdrawn owing to his injury. Local lad Marcus Mascarenhas ran past his markers and put the home side on the driving seat in the 18th minute. Odafa Okolie, Marcus Mascarenhas and Glan Martins flooded the Bengaluru FC box with attacks and the Blues had to be on their toes throughout to contain those pulverising attacking moves. Sporting Clube de Goa doubled the lead as the lanky striker Odafa Okolie struck from the top of the box six minutes before the break.

When the home crowd started to sense another victory against the mighty Bengaluru outfit, Loveday Okechukwu brought down Sunil Chhetri inside the box and referee Santosh Kumar didn’t think twice before awarding the spot-kick in favour of the away team, which was calmly converted by the skipper himself. At the stroke of half-time, Udanta Singh was brought down by Loveday Okechukwu and the rash challenge invited his first marching order of the season. After the lemon break, Bengaluru FC showed their vigour to find the much-needed equaliser and finally they averted the Sporting lead after the hour-mark when Chhetri tapped a long cross from the right flank, released by the youngster Daniel Lalhlimpuia. Mateus Costa left no stone unturned to register a double over the Bengaluru men but his strategies were handsomely thwarted by the Blue defenders.

Coming from a shocking defeat against Salgaocar FC, Kingfisher East Bengal had to win against the debutants DSK Shivajians at the Balewadi Stadium to stay in their pursuit for their maiden Hero I-League. Biswajit Bhattacharya started with Do-Dong Hyun and Abinash Ruidas along with Ranti Martins on the up front. On the other hand, the home boys had nothing to lose and they hit the gas right from the kick-off. Dipanda Dica and Douhou Pierre started to press hard on the Red & Golds defence line, which resulted in the opening goal in the eighth minute. Dica breezed past Rahul Bheke from the left flank and rattled the woodwork, on the rebound, Douhou smacked the back of the net sending the home crowd into a delirium.

Ranti Martins and Dong tried every possible but the resilient DSK defence, led by the debutant Sandesh Jhinghan, kept their net unscathed till the final whistle. Juan Quero Barraso, the Real Madrid academy cadet, had a stellar game and finally he got a bite at the cherry in the 65th minute when his cannon shot from 30-yard bamboozled Rehenesh TP, who made his comeback for the Kolkata outfit after 3 weeks. DSK Shivajians never looked like an inexperienced debutant side against the veteran Red & Golds and finally, they got the maximum prize for their valiant display in front of the local crowd.

Mohun Bagan, who haven’t plied their trade in round 12, still hold the top spot with 22 points owing to their better head-to-head records against Bengaluru FC, who have also raised their tally to 22 points following their 2-2 stalemate against Sporting Clube de Goa this week. Kingfisher East Bengal, who have suffered two back-to-back losses on the road against Salgaocar FC and DSK Shivajians, will look to come back to the winning ways very soon to close the five points gap with the leaders. Salgaocar FC and DSK Shivajians both are locked at the bottom with nine points, but the Goan side are enjoying the eighth spot at the moment, thanks to their win against the Pune outfit at the Balewadi Stadium in the eighth round.