Calcutta: Quite a few in the present East Bengal side were aware of the threat Aryan posed to them. But that one of their discards would deny them victory was the last thing in East Bengal's minds.
Priyant Singh saved a late penalty from Ranty Martins to dash East Bengal's hopes and hand Aryan a crucial point in Tuesday's CFL Premier Division tie, at the East Bengal ground, which ended in a barren draw.
It's not that Priyant had to exert him throughout the match, as East Bengal just couldn't create enough chances. But when the occasion demanded, the young goalkeeper came good... His team couldn't have asked for anything more then.
Till the time he was in the red-and-gold camp (till mid 2013), opportunities were rare for Priyant. But his departure from East Bengal seems to have been a blessing in disguise, as he's at least getting a regular chance to be in the first XI of his current team.
And so far, he has well and truly done more than a decent job.
It was six minutes before end of regulation time when East Bengal were awarded a penalty.
A flick from Ranty Martins, off Cavin Lobo's setup, hit Aryan sideback Chattu Mondal's hand as the referee instantly pointed to the dreaded spot.
Ranty's fitness continues to be an issue and on Tuesday as well, he was introduced only in the 63rd minute as a substitute for the disappointing Jiten Murmu.
Yet, it was Ranty who took the penalty, a feeble rightfooter which Priyant held on to, diving to his left.
Not to take any credit away from Priyant, but Ranty's shot hardly had any power in it.
As per the current points table, Aryan continue to be above East Bengal in the league table - at No.2 with five points - while Biswajit Bhattacharya's men are on fourth with four points from two matches.
It may be too early to press the panic button, but East Bengal do need to have a proper striker if they harbour hopes of a successful season.
Ranty needs to get better and start to look lethal again on regaining complete fitness, but what about the man partnering him in the upfront?
Jiten Murmu, who started proceedings before being replaced in the second half, has age on his side and it won't be fair in being too critical on him on the basis of his performance on Tuesday.
But having said that, Jiten couldn't convert from less than 10 yards with the rival goalkeeper at his.
Mehtab Hussain delivered an aerial ball that set him up nicely from pretty close range. Jiten came up with a left-footer that did beat Priyant only to miss the second post by a whisker.
Coach Bhattacharya took Jiten off soon after to bring in Ranty, which did little to solve East Bengal's problems. Cavin Lobo was also introduced in the misfiring Bikash Jairu's place early in the second session.
Lobo's presence did add some thrust to East Bengal's attacks, but the lack of sharpness in the upfront spoiled the good work.
Do Dong Hyun tried his best to break free from Aryan's zonal marking, but lack of support only made things tougher for him and East Bengal.
TEAMS
East Bengal: Luis Barreto; Robert Lalthlamuana, Deepak Mondal, Arnab Mondal, Samad Ali Mallick; Bikash Jairu (Cavin Lobo, 51), Harmanjyot Singh Khabra, Mehtab Hussain, Shylo Malsawmtluanga (Mohammed Rafique, 76); Do Dong Hyun, Jiten Murmu (Ranty Martins, 63)
Aryan: Priyant Singh; Suman Chandra Dey, Sourav Dasgupta, Ashim Kr. Dey, Chattu Mondal; Sumon Malo (Subhankar Sana, 90+3), Pritambar Das, Laltu Hembram, Raju Debnath (Sumit Ghosh, 62); Kazeem Amobi, Stanley Ifeanyi (Moses Luis, 86)
Referee: Prabir Dhar
MoM: Priyant Singh
