Jorhat, Sept. 15: Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) SC today gifted the Assam Tea Planters? Association (ATPA) Shield on a platter to defending champions Oil India Limited (OIL) of Duliajan here at the Jorhat Stadium.
ASEB, the Guwahati super division league runners-up, displayed the art of missing the easiest of scoring opportunities to perfection as the holders retained the title with a 1-0 victory.
It was not that OIL played better football, but their out-of-form strikers managed to pull off a goal in the 73rd minute to unsettle the opponents. Birjab Mushahary kicked the ball into the nets after Bhimkanta Gogoi?s half volley rebounded from the woodwork.
Apart from Birjab and Bhimkanta, the other striker Mrinal Boro in the OIL line-up have not been doing justice to their reputation as one of the best forward combination in the state.
Though Bhimkanta was eventually declared the Player of the Tournament, he missed several opportunities. In the closing minutes of the first half, he muffed up a simple chance when had only the ASEB goalkeeper to beat. His shot went straight into the hands of the keeper.
The much-vaunted ASEB attack succumbed to the pressure of playing in a final for the second time in a fortnight. They lost the super division league to Assam Police Blues 0-1, but avenged the defeat with a 5-4 tiebreaker verdict in the semi-final of the 45th edition of the ATPA Shield on Sunday.
Their attack, led by captain Sanjiba Rongpi, penetrated the OIL defence on a number of occasions, but everything came to nought as they sent some wayward shots at the end. The strikers shot the ball out of the woodwork more than seven times.
The match was not even three minute?s old when striker Sushil Kumar Singh missed the easiest of chances in the entire game. He shot the ball directly to the goalkeeper from inside the box after receiving a cross by Lalhritzuala from the right flank.
Kamal Chetri?s hard-hit half volley from just outside the penalty area went off the goal by a whisker 11 minutes into the second half, Krishna Das? shot flew over the bar 19 minutes after his teammate?s failure.
The victory was OIL?s seventh title in the meet. The two teams are one-all head-to-head in the finals of this tournament. ASEB got the better of OIL in 2000 when they squared off for the first time in an ATPA Shield final.