Calcutta: And you thought that a Devadas would ever only be the tragic hero. Well, that might be true in novels and on celluloid but, at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday, a certain Denson Devadas ended a wait that seemed to be turning into an eternal one.
Two brilliant goals and the Santosh Trophy was back in the cradle of Indian football as Bengal won their 30th National Championship with a 2-1 defeat of Punjab in the final.
Funnily, IFA was to have taken disciplinary action against Devadas who had kissed referee Minangshu Bhattacharjee after being red-carded in a CFL match against Mohun Bagan.
You would have agreed that strange indeed are the ways of life had you seen IFA secretary Utpal Ganguli hugging the Chirag United captain after the match.
The Punjab players understood one thing on Sunday. Home rules apply firmly when the tournament is held in Bengal. Dare to beat Bengal in their own den? Don’t even think about it.
It didn’t happen in eight editions and Snehasish Chakraborty and company showed that there would not be any change in the script. So a ninth title at home.
Forget whether this triumph will benefit Bengal football. It’s champagne time today. Battered and bruised by Goa at the club level, this win was necessary for the Souviks, Azims, Arnabs to believe that they have the ability to stand up to their rivals in the top level.
This also means a new lease of life for coach Shabbir Ali.
Incidentally, when Bengal won their last championship in 1999, whipping Goa, Shabbir had been in the opposition dug out. Definitely a victory he will savour for a long time as he had only 15 fit players to choose from.
On the day, Bengal once more conceded the early goal with their defence in tatters once again. It was Punjab right back Rahul Kumar who floated the ball into the Bengal box.
Semi-final hero Abhra Mondal showed poor anticipation, failing to gauge the flight of the ball as in-form striker Balwant Singh met the delivery with his head. With both stoppers caught out of position, Balwant’s header went in.
Shabbir Ali’s fascination with the below par Tarif Ahmed spelt doom for Bengal. Save a header from a Robin Singh cross that hit the vertical, the ONGC striker looked totally out of sync. Sanity though prevailed in the 36th minute with the introduction of Souvik Chakraborty.
The hosts certainly looked a better unit once Souvik came on. Robin’s problem has been his turning. Often trying those half turns, the Delhi lad has a penchant for wasting a lot of time, which cost his team going upfront.
However, the equaliser came in the second minute of first half stoppage time. Skipper Snehasish floated one of his trademark in-swinging crosses and Denson nicely evaded his marker to head home.
If Denson was the star of the day, doff your hats to senior pro Jayanta Sen who tirelessly controlled the game in the midfield.
Whether it be falling back to help the defence or keeping mobility in wing play, the veteran midfielder was the silent hero on a Super Sunday.
The second half saw a much better Bengal with Snehasish repeatedly making forays down the left and Devadas joining Souvik in the 18-yard box.
If the first goal was impressive, Devadas’s second goal was mindblowing. Playing a one-two with Robin, Devadas took a snap left footer that rammed into the net, much to the horror of Paramjit Singh.
There was minimum effort in the shot but the punch it packed will be remembered by the 15,000 odd spectators for a long time to come.
Raise a toast to the new Dev D of Bengal football.
Teams
Bengal: Abhra Mondal, Rajib Ghosh, Sheikh Azim, Arnab Mondal, R. Dhanrajan, Snehasish Chakraborty, Jayanta Sen, Denson Devadas, Gauranga Dutta (Safar Sardar, 90+1’), Tarif Ahmed (Souvik Chakraborty, 36’), Robin Singh
Punjab: Paramjit Singh, Ravinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, Harpreet Singh, Maninder Singh, Rahul Kumar, Balwant Singh, Balraj Singh (Rohit Kumar), Gurwinder Singh (Parveen Kumar, 46’), Amandeep Singh, Randeep Singh
Referee: Pratap Singh
