Usha hold Mohammedan to 3-3 draw

Mohammedan Sporting Club surrendered a 2-0 lead to play out a 3-3 draw against Usha Krira Chakra in a Premier Hockey League encounter at Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday.

The Black and Whites came into their third match with a back-to-back victory against minnows Azad Sporting Club and Victoria Sporting Club but they faced a stiff challenge from the Old Dhaka outfit, who had stunned holders Mariners 5-1 before giving big-spenders Abahani a run for their money in a 2-1 loss.

Mohammedan, who completed the registration of Indian forward Dipu Singha and Malaysian defender Zul Pidaus Bin Mizun just before the start of the match, featured four foreign players and got off to a promising start.

Dipu saw his close-range hit come off the board in the seventh minute before Faizal Bin Sarri broke the deadlock with an individual brilliance as the Malaysian forward darted into the shooting circle to muster a shot beyond the reach of goalkeeper Asim Gope's reach in the 11th minute.

Usha then came close to leveling the margin in the 20th minute with Indian forward Ishrat Iktidar watching his push go outside despite Mohammedan goalkeeper Nuruzzaman beaten. In the same minute, however, Mohammedan surprisingly doubled the lead with a quick attack.

National forward Rasel Mahmud Jimmy doubled the lead with a placing shot in the 20th minute after being fed by Malaysian midfielder Faiz Helmi Bin Jali before Iktidar redeemed himself in the 27th minute. Iktidar ran down the left-flank to enter the box and found the back of the board with a fierce hit to reduce the margin.

Having squandered the first six penalty corners, Usha finally exploited their seventh penalty corner taken by Mahabubur Rahman to level the margin in the 36th minute, forcing Mohammedan to mount pressure on Usha.

Din Islam Emon then squandered a chance to restore the lead for Mohammedan in the 43rd minute before Amirul Islam converted their fourth penalty corner to restore the lead in the 45th minute.

The lead, however, lasted only eight minutes as Usha's Mahabubur converted another penalty corner in the 53rd minute.

In the last five minutes, both sides created a couple of scoring chances but both sides could not cash in on their opportunity and had to be content with a draw.

In the day's first match, Shadharan Bima beat Victoria Sporting Club 8-3, courtesy of a hat-trick from Indian recruit Ashu.