Mohammedan fall to Sheikh Jamal

Some familiar faces rushed in front of the Mohammedan SC dugout to vent their fury soon after the Black and Whites suffered a 0-1 defeat to Sheikh Jamal DC in the first quarterfinal of the Walton Federation Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

With the hope of putting behind the dismal performance of last season, Mohammedan SC had formed a squad with experienced players and gave charge to veteran Indian coach Syed Naeemuddin. However, their early exit from the season's curtain-raising tournament did not go down well with the supporters.

The supporters hurled abuse towards the Indian coach, grilling him as to why he did not field the right players and did not bring changes at the right time. Nayeemuddin, however, told reporters that his charges squandered scoring opportunities, which was the reason for the defeat.   

From a neutral perspective, it was a lacklustre display from the Black and Whites, who were eliminated from the group stages last season. The Mohammedan players failed to have any impact on the match and could hardly expose the defence of Sheikh Jamal, who had knocked Mohammedan out from the quarterfinals of the 2013 edition too.

In contrast, the youthful Sheikh Jamal team created a number of scoring opportunities with Nigerian striker Raphael Odovin and Gambian marksman Mamodou Bah combining well. The two exposed the Mohammedan backline time and again but could not beat goalkeeper Mamun Khan in the first half.

Bah saw his low drive at the near post brilliantly stopped by Mamun, who then denied Raphael from close range. Mamun again rescued Mohammedan by thwarting Raphael in a one-on-one situation on the half-hour mark.

Sheikh Jamal finally broke the deadlock in the 77th minute with Gambian substitute Solomon King striking with his first touch after replacing compatriot Bah a couple of minutes earlier.

Raphael darted into the box from the right and played a neat cut-back for King, who sliced the ball into the net past Mohammedan goalkeeper.

Mohammedan had a fine chance to level the margin from a goal-mouth melee but Kingsley's goal-bound volley from close range was incredibly blocked by a Sheikh Jamal defender. That was the last chance of the match as three-time champions Sheikh Jamal moved into the semifinals for the fourth time in five editions after being eliminated from the quarterfinals last season.