Bayern Munich with the IFA Shield after they beat Ever-Ready in the final at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday. Picture by Gautam Bose

Calcutta: The stage was set for minnows Ever-Ready to script history, but they failed to rise to the occasion and went down 1-5 to the European giants Bayern Munich in the final of the 111th IFA Shield at Salt Lake stadium on Sunday.

The defeat of the city outfit was expected but the 1-5 scoreline was the cause of disappointment at the sparsely filled stadium. Riding high on their dream run in the tournament, Ever-Ready coach, Anjan Nath was expecting another miracle, but this time they were the victim of their own gameplan of playing defensively and then going for a counter attack.

It was a spirited display in the first half, where both the teams were looked for the early lead. The crowd expected that it would be an easy going for the Bayern Munich team, but it was Ever-Ready who drew the first blood in the 22nd minute.

Ever-Ready striker Theodore Wrobeh in a solo run from the mid-field, dribbled past three Bayern defenders and essaying it to Lalkamal Bhowmik on the left of the box. Lal made no mistake in finding the target.

The stunned German outfit didn’t allow Ever-Ready to enjoy the lead for more than five minutes. Captain Saba Christian’s shot in the box spun which foxed Anupam Sarkar. Then it was left to advancing Stefan Maierhoefer, to head the ball home.

With score level 1-1, none of the teams were willing to leave an inch. But by the time, the Ever-Ready players got tired, Bayern pounced on them to make forays into their defence quite often. The match was levelled till the lemon break.

After change of sides, it was a different Bayern team, which showed their class. 13 minutes into the second session, Bayern saw themselves 4-1 up, proving the difference of standards between the two countries.

They went 2-1 up in the 51st minute, Stephan Furstner was felled by Ever-Ready’s Francis just outside the box, and a free-kick was awarded to the German side. Stagmayer’s swerving left-footer went pass a diving Sibram, whose anticipation was correct.

Then it was a oine-way traffic after that. Three minutes later it was again Maierhoefer, who tapped the ball into the net off a Furstner pass. In the 58th minute an airborne Niedermeir, headed the ball past Sibram, off a flag-kick by Stagmayer. Oritz put the final nail in the Ever-Ready coffin in the 83rd minute to seal the fate.

Teams

Bayern Munich: Jan Schlosser, Phillip Rehm, George Neidermeier, Christian Saba, Markus Steinhoefer, Rainer Storhas, Matthias Zimmermann (Stefan Furstner 46), Fabian Mueller (Michael Goerlitz 46, Jose Luiz Ortiz, Stefan Maierhoefer.

Ever-Ready: Sibram Dey (Sk Nasibul Haque 58), Akshaya Das, Anupam Sarkar, Amulya Mondal, Mujaffar Rahaman, Crispin Chetri, Dhiman Sinha, Lalkamal Bhowmik, Snehasis Chakraborty, Chibueze Francis, Theodore Wrobeh ( Ratan Das 49).

Referee: Dave Roberts (Singapore).