Making its first appearance after a gap three years in the festive yet fiercely competitive annual football competition for print and electronic media, The Daily Star however started from where it had left off.

The winners of the inaugural edition in 1999 recorded a 2-0 victory against Dainik Dinkal.

Aging defender Morshed Ali Khan let the English daily off the hook with a freakish corner kick that took a wicked deflection off Dinkal custodian Bodiuzzaman into the net seven minutes before the final whistle.

The goal finally broke a stubborn Dinkal defence that had till then resisted waves of Daily Star attacks. Three minutes from time, Star's latest sensation Zayadul Ashan Pintu swayed past two Dinkal defenders before unleashing an unstoppable grounder past Bodiuzzaman to make it 2-0.

Although the Daily Star missed two seasoned defenders like Syed Ashfaqul Haque and Shamshur Rahman Momen because of mysterious illness, towering newcomer Sheikh Nazrul Islam combined well with rock-solid veteran Morshed to man the backline. Multi-talented journalist cum entertainer Hasan Masood showed his athletic side as he donned the goalkeeper's jersey and went on to make some crucial saves.

Masood also went into the record (!) books when he became the first coach-cum-goalkeeper in the tournament's history.

The forwards of the Star are regarded as the best in the business, but they failed to live up to that tag yesterday. Although his exotic ball-skills remain, captain Al-Amin has definitely lost pace with age. The porky Rabeed Imam, sporting David Beckham's famous number 7 shirt, hit the bar three times from Beckham-like freekicks but missed two absolute sitters.

In contrast, young guns Pinaki Roy and Shariful gave manager Lenin Gani a lot to cheer about. Although Lenin, reportedly a former Liverpool ball boy, earned applause for his enthusiasm and tactical awareness, the manager still faced the prospect of a one-match ban for not properly informing an avid band of The Daily Star followers including the managing editor Syed Fahim Munaim about yesterday's game in advance.

Meanwhile, in other matches of the day, BSS drew 2-2 with Khabar Patra, Bhorer Dak defeated Dainik Al-Amin 3-1 and Dainik Sangram thrashed Dainik Khabar 5-1.

State minister for youth and sports Fazlur Rahman declared the meet open in the morning.