GUWAHATI, July 16 � Former champions ASEB Sports Club regained the Kaamaakaji NN Bhattacharya Trophy.
In a lacklustre title clash at the Nehru Stadium here today, ASEB outsmarted Assam Police Blues by an aggregate of 4-2 goals in tie-breaker. In regulation time, both the teams struck once.
Defender Hemanta Kumar Brahma put ASEB ahead in the 20th minute anticipating a flag kick while Robijit Jigdung drew parity in the 35th minute receiving a pass from Joseph Maslai.
In the tie-breaker, Nitu Narzary, Biplob Kundu and Maneswar Musahary were the successful shooters for ASEB while for Police, only Rishikesh Medhi could hit the target as Manoj Boro, Sarbananda Sonowal and Bijoy Borgohain�s shots were saved by Daoga. The hero of the final was certainly ASEB custodian Daoga Brahma who made three brilliant saves during the penalty shot-out.
No team could impress today as the frontliners of both the teams hardly went all out. It was basically a midfield dominated game. The ball roamed around the centre circle most of the time. Hard-working ASEB midfielders � Sibra Narzary and Priyo Kumar Singh � tried to build moves from the down but they miserably failed to spray the balls at the Police goal area.
In the first half, players of both the teams tried to get their act together but in the second half they played a disorganised game much to the disappointment of their supporters. For Police, Manoj and Joseph showed some thrust in building moves but they hardly could find their strikers in suitable positions most of the time.
Veteran photographer Tarani Barman was the chief guest on the occasion. Before the start of the match, along with Barman, sponsor Ruli Ahmed and Jatin Bhattacharya were introduced to the players. Joint director of Sports Anjan Sarma, OIL officer DD Khound were also present in the closing function. Maneswar Musahary was adjudged best player of the final.
