Bagan-Sporting play out goalless draw

Kolkata, Dec 4 (UNI) The sorry state of Indian football was evident from the opening tie of the IFA Shield between Mohun Bagan and Mohameddan Sporting that finished in a dull goalless draw after ninety minutes of slugfest here today.

Mohun Bagan under stop-gap coach Robson looked like a steam engine that chugged throughout the match, and Mohameddan Sporting bullied around the mid-field and adventured into the rival territory without much purpose. The high notes of the match of course belonged to Subhas Bhowmik's boys.

They got a penalty in the 46th minute that Noel Wilson wasted with a lame effort that Sangram Mukherjee saved with ease. Next, in the 74th minute Jamir Ali Mondal saw the second yellow of the match and had to return to the players' hole. For the rest of the match Mohameddan Sporting played with 10-man, not that it was a big problem as Mohun Bagan attacks were toothless.

As the game degenerated into a bag of nothing, Edu created a chance for himself getting past Sporting goalie but shot wide off the mark. Then again in the dying minutes Ashim Das brought about a goalline save to help Sporting keep the slate clean.

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