Saturday, April 18, 2009

Indian Football League....

After four runner up finishes over the last few years, Churchill Brothers, have finally won the Indian ONGC Football league, pipping hot favourites Mohan Bagan to the title.

The Goan outfit have made records of sorts, by scoring more than 50 goals, with their goal scoring machine, Odafa netting a record 26. he has been scoring in practically all the matches, & has been the central figure of his team's success. The final game at the Fatorda Stadium, Panaji, saw a clinical demolition of Md Sporting club 6-2 by the champions, leaving the Kolkata side to walk into relegation.

Mohan Bagan, who were neck to neck till the last game, lost out to jeepmen Mahindra United 2-1 in their concluding match. The presence of Brazillian Baretto & Indian Captain Baichung Bhutia upfront, got them a rousing start at the begining of the tournament, when they clocked 9 wins on the trot, but a loss to the arch rivals East Bengal at a crucial stage of the tournament, seemed to take the wind out of them. They have to content with the runners up slot this time.

Among other teams, East Bengal failed to live upto the promise of a good team, struggling with injury problems & Coaching issues & the only consolation was to win the return derby match against arch rivals Mohun Bagan 3-0. Teams like Dempo, last year's Champion, JCT, Mahindra United, all had good players in their ranks, but lost the plot somewhere as the tournament progressed, & ended up with rather poor performances.

Vasco & Md Sporting, staying at the bottom f the table, have been relegated to the 2nd division.

Lets, hope Indian football improves in qualityahead, & we see exciting matches ahead. Its a game, which has huge followings, in Kolkata, Mumbai, Goa, Kerala & Punjab.

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