Newcomers Feni Soccer Club set up a semifinal clash with Mohammedan in the Citycell Federation Cup after a 4-2 shootout win over Rahmatganj MFS in the second quarterfinal at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Like the first quarterfinal tie, the match also rolled into the tiebreaker after both sides failed to produce any decider in the 90-minute regulation time.
The first semifinal is billed for Saturday at the same venue.
Feni goalkeeper Piaruzzaman Piru was the man behind propelling Feni Soccer to the last four as the former Arambagh KS keeper stopped the first two strikes by Ugandan striker Indris Kasirye and Guinean forward Raphael Sango in the shootout to give the outsiders a surprising success in their first-ever appearance in top flight football.
Rahmatganj goalkeeper Arifuzzaman Himel also had a good start blocking the first shot from Feni forward Anwar Hossain, but later he failed to stop shots from Asif Yousuf, Monayem Khan Raju, Imrul Hasan and Mintu Sheikh.
"I just concentrated on the movements of the shooters and easily stopped the first two shots," said Piru after the match. "As a captain, I am happy after having done my duty in taking the team to the last fours," said an ecstatic Piru.
Feni coach Milon Mollah was also happy with the outcome, but he did not want to be overly elated.
"I will only be happy if we can play good football in the B. League and I don't want to rate this outcome as extraordinary," said Milon. "We should have won the game in the regulation time and you saw we missed a spot kick."
Milon's counterpart Mir Mohammad Faruqe said that his inactive midfield was the main reason behind the failure.
"Without suspended playmaker Kabir Hossain, our midfield collapsed and the foreign duo was also not up to mark as per their ability," said Faruque, whose side last season qualified for the Fed Cup semifinals.
Feni Soccer should have taken a lead midway through the first half when referee Azad Raman awarded them a penalty after Rahmatganj defender Jahangir Patuary brought Amirul Islam inside the danger zone. But, Asif missed the target hitting the sidebar to deprive the newcomers from a deserved lead.
With three minutes left from the lemon break, Anwar tested goalkeeper Himel outside the box, but his shot was drifting away from of the far post.
After resumption, Feni went all out sending on striker Ashraful Kader Manju in place of Amirul and kept on creating changes, but was unlucky in not converting them.
Rahmatganj, however, could have gone ahead in the 65th minute when Idris dragged a grounder from off a Raphael minus inside the box, but Piru foiled the efforts.
Today's Paper
the electronic copy of the print edition with the power of web!
- advertisement
No comments:
Post a Comment