Calcutta: Two substitutions followed by an eight-minute spell of fantastic football saw East Bengal rout Peerless SC 5-1 in a CFL Premier Divison A game at home on a rain-sodden Saturday.

And the hero was one Surabuddin Mallick, who netted a hat-trick in just 19 minutes. The match was tied at 1-1 when in the 57th minute Surabuddin came in place of Laldanmawia Ralte. Three minutes later, coach Khalid Jamil replaced VP Suhair with Gabriel Fernandes.

The two pair of fresh legs gave the East Bengal attack more power and Peerless, who were making life difficult for the defending champions, started to feel the pressure.

The goal was coming anytime. And it came in the 71st minute. Brandon Vanlalremdika's corner found Samad Ali Mallick. The defender's prompt centre found Gabriel inside the box and he leapt high to head in East Bengal's second goal. The third came in the 75th minute. This time Gabriel was the assist. A low free-kick and Surabuddin dived in at the near post to make it 3-1.

A minute later, there was another round of celebrations. Surabuddin followed Lalramchullova's centre from the left to perfection, sneaked in at the far post and poked it home. His hat-trick came four minutes into the injury-time.

The Gabriel-Surabuddin combination was once again in the thick of things. Gabriel centred from the left and Surabuddin was at the right place at the right time to make it 5-1 for East Bengal. A hat-trick in 19 minutes is one of the fastest in the history of CFL.

The first half was not so good for East Bengal, though. Agreed, Willis Plaza got his first goal but East Bengal found the going tough against a dogged Peerless outfit.

In fact, a minute before they got the equaliser, Syed Rahim Nabi's centre was nicely met by a Zikahi Dodoz header but it struck the crosspiece and dropped just outside the goal-line. On any other day that would have crossed the goal-line, but on Saturday thanks to the rain, the ball got stuck in the slush.

A minute later though, Peerless made it 1-1. Anil Kisku's corner found an unmarked Nabi whose header nestled into the net after a deflection off Prakash Sarkar.

Meanwhile, senior East Bengal official Debabrata Sarkar said that the club would appeal to the IFA not to allot matches after August 23. "We will be without six players once Plaza and Carlyle Mitchell leave for their national commitments."

TEAMS

East Bengal: Luis Barreto; Samad Ali Mallick, Gurwinder Singh, Carlyle Mitchell, Lalramchullova; Prakash Sarkar, Mahmoud Al-Amna, Barandon Vanlalremdika (Yami Longvah, 87), Laldanmawia Ralte (Surabuddin Mallick, 57); Willis Plaza, VP Suhair (Gabriel Fernandes, 60).

Peerless SC: Surjay Pariyar; Satish Singh, Lancine Toure, Akhil Rajbangshi, N.Sumi, Shahrukh Rahman, Dipankar Das, Santosh Oraon (Sukhwinder Singh 79), Syed Rahim Nabi, Leonce Dodoz, Anil Kisku (Atinder Mani 65).

Referee: Ranjit Bakshi

MoM: Surabuddin Mallick