Their billing as a ‘big club’ already battered by a string of poor performances, today’s result seriously dents Tollygunge’s chances of being among the top five teams after the first leg of the League.

The top five will continue the fight for the title in the ‘championship leg’ while the bottom five are banished to relegation fights. The real bad news for Tollygunge is that recent setbacks are leaving deep scars in the team.

The dissension in the team came out in the open when senior pro Satyabrata Bhowmick took off his jersey and refused to continue after being ‘spoken to’ by coach Sankar Moitra during half-time.

The game began with Tollygunge’s young brigade showing verve with some strong running in midfield. It died almost as soon as it had begun, and East Bengal picked up the reins from there. They were, however, let down by their strikers who wasted several scoring chances.

Their own goal came under threat on several occasions, some of them because of a jittery Shibram Dey. The Bengal under-21 goalkeeper was replaced at half-time by Sangram Mukherjee — and just in time as he was able to thwart several Tollygunge attempts.

Carlton Chapman drew first blood, nine minutes after the breather, and immediately after a heavy downpour that would surely have had the match abandoned had it continued for some time.

It was all set in motion by a chip into the goalmouth by right-back Surkumar Singh, who again made a mark with his mobility down the flanks. The Tollygunge defenders failed in their desperate attempt to clear the ball but all they did was travel to Dipendu Biswas at the far end. Dipendu let it roll beyond for Chapman, who ran in and scored from a tight angle.

Goalkeeper Prasanta Dora, who otherwise had a decent outing, should take a great deal of the blame for allowing the ball to slip through between him and the near post. He should have had that gap sealed.

Bijen Singh, wiser after a miss from an almost same situation, scored the second goal. It came in the 89th minute, after Dipankar Roy found Bijen with a lovely pass in the box that put him in a one-to-one with the Tollygunge goalkeeper.

Bijen had come upon a similar situation earlier in the half and had seen his shot blocked by the goalkeeper who had the angle covered. The rebound had been fired into the goalkeeper from close for a corner. This time, Bijen nicely delayed his shot to have Dora committed to a lunge and the ball found its mark.

The second half also saw Tollygunge come up with their best chance to score.

It materialised suddenly, from a rare error by stopper Jackson Egygpong just after the first goal. A square pass from left-back Ratan Singh had presented Jackson with a routine clearance from the goalmouth even as Tollygunge’s Mohammad Kaiser came charging down.

Jackson missed contact, the slush under his foot probably having something to do with it, and Kaiser was with the ball and the goalkeeper at his mercy. He shot straight to him.

A senior official of the company who was in the city today had preliminary discussions with club officials.

The 1,200m Mamma’s Mink Cup, the feature event, too, is an open race. While Mameena, Anolini and Super Smile stake claim on the strength of their previous performance, Storm Centre could not be overlooked on his consistency. Among the four, the Vijay Singh-trainee Anolini commands respect because of his superior bloodlines.

Finally, keep an eye on Richard Alford’s wards — Almond Rock and Airs Image — in their respective events.

Read as: Horse number, last four runs, horse name, trainer, jockey, weight & draw: Scarlet Prince Handicap 2,000m (Cl IV—Rated 00-50)

1 0420 Hurricane Star [Stephens] Rutherford A. 60.0 1

2 0412 Bernadine [Vijay] C. Alford 53.5 2

3 3230 Avionic [Bharath] S. Rabani 53.0 3

1. avionic (3) 2. Hurricane Star (2)

Avionic: Ignore his last run which was his first effort over 1,800m. Capable beating his two rivals. Hurricane Star: Much improved since last run. May win.

Flower Dust Cup 1,000m (Cl V, — Rt. 00-28)— Indian jockeys only

1 4003 Aristotemus [Mujeeb] Md Yacoob 60.0 3

2 3413 Dizzy Diver [P. Locke] D. Locke 58.5 7

3 - 000 Crest Star [Goenka] Md Yasin 58.0 6

4 ---- Alygator [Vijay] Md Amil 57.0 4

5 - - -0 Slice Of Life [Bharath] S. Rabani 54.5 2

6 - 000 Orbital Star [R. Alford] Rutherford A. 52.0 5

7 0030 Exclusive Girl [R. Alford] R. Gowli 51.0 1

1. alygator (4) 2. exclusive girl (7) 3. Dizzy Diver (2)

Alygator: Castration delayed his debut. Highly rated and fit to strike. Exclusive Girl: Met with a bad check in last start. May upset. Dizzy Diver: May place.

Voluntary Handicap 1,200m (Cl IV,3-y-o only Rt. 00-50) — Indian jockeys only

1 - 021 Almond Rock [R. Alford] R. Gowli 60.0 4

2 0212 On The Bit [Stephens] Rutherford A. 59.0 5

3 1403 Queen’s Logic [Bharath] C. Alford 55.0 2

4 - 001 Software [Bath] S. Shanker 52.0 1

5 0000 Abstone Queen [R. Alford] S. Tamang 47.5 3

1. almond rock (1) 2. software (4) 3. queen’s logic (3)

Almond Rock: Brilliant at work in the company of Head Hunter, a top-class horse. Software: In her last start she beat Alesund, Locker’s Park, Ballet Master and Alborada — all winners in their subsequent outings. Queen’s Logic: Upset, if any.

Magyar Handicap 1,400m (Cl V—Rt. 00-28) — Indian jockeys only

1 0443 Arizona Star [Mujeeb] Sher S. 60.0 2

2 4003 Airs Image [R. Alford] R. Gowli 52.5 3

3 0030 Atacada [Bharath] C. Alford 52.0 1

4 0000 Little Boy Blue [Rodrigues] S. Shanker 51.0 4

5 0000 Aeolian [Bharath] Md Amil 47.5 5

1. airs image (2) 2. arizona star (1) 3. atacada (3)

Airs Image: Best performed youngster in the field. May earn his maiden win. Arizona Star: May seize the chance if youngsters fail. Atacada: Upset, if any.

Mamma’s Mink Cup 1,200m (Cl II—Rt. 66-94)

1 3421 Mameena [Stephens] Rutherford A. 60.0 7

2 4323 Optimum Choice [R. Alford] R. Gowli 59.0 2

3 0001 Defiance [R. Alford] K. Kumar 57.5 1

4 - - 21 Anolini [Vijay] C. Alford 57.5 5

5 - - 10 Sharp Sensation [David] Surender S. 55.5 6

6 1103 Storm Centre [Rodrigues] N. Engineer 54.5 8

7 - 320 Double Crown [Javed] M. Reuben 52.0 3

8 2201 Super Smile [Bharath] Md Islam 52.0 4

1. anolini (4) 2. Storm centre (6) 3. mameena (1)

Anolini: Much improved since his last narrow win. May beat the lot he is up aga-inst. Storm Centre: Merits regard on his consistency. Mameena: Upset, if any.

Stolen Hours Handicap 1,100m (Cl III, 5-y-o & over—Rt. 44-72)

1 0440 Char Bahar [Karki] Amjad K. 61.0 7

2 ---- Highland Flame [David] C. Alford 60.0 4

3 2043 Sky Command [Mujeeb] Som S. 59.5 10

4 0002 Just Kidding [R. Alford] P. Alford 59.0 1

5 0133 Dancing Fire [Bharath] S. Rabani 57.5 2

6 3012 Winning Hand [Javed] M. Reuben 54.5 8

7 0200 Sky Hawk [Mujeeb] Md Yacoob 54.0 3

8 0420 Scimitar [Mujeeb] Sher S. 51.5 9

9 3000 Mountain Memory [R. Alford] S. Tamang 50.5 6

10 2000 Iron Warrior [David] A. P. Singh 50.5 5

1. highland flame (2) 2. winning hand (6) 3. dancing fire (5)

Highland Flame: Much superior in class, though running after nearly 16 months. Winning Hand: Let down narrowly in last start. Will fight for the top-berth again. Dancing Fire: Ignore her last run. Can do better. Scimitar: May place.

Outer sand track

800m: Crest Star (Amjad) in 59s; (400m) 28s. Bernadine (C. Alford) in 1-4s; (400m) 28s. Very easy.

400m: Desert Force (Rutherford) in 30s.

Monsoon track

1,200m: Royal Ruler (Rutherford) and Rising Chorus (Gowli) in 1-28 1/5s; (800m) 59 1/5s;(400m) 28s. Former was a head better.

800m: Infierno (Rutherford) and Fibonacci (R. Ahmed) in 54s; (400m) 24s. Both level. Double Crown (Rb) in 53 2/5s; (400m) 23 2/5s. Good. Alsadena (Islam) in 55s; (400m) 25s. Easy. Alesund (Islam) and Soviet Port (Rabani) in 55s; (400m) 25s. Former 4 ls better. No Regrets (M. Reuben) and Prizren (Rb) in 1-5s; (400m) 29 1/5s. Former was a head better.

Sand track

1,400m: Art Smart (Amjad) in 1-55 3/5s; (400m) 31 3/5s.