The stick-wielders of the popular Dhanmondi outfit handed their Motijheel rivals a crashing 5-1 defeat in the virtual final of the Green Delta Premier Division Hockey League at the Maulana Bhasani National Stadium yesterday.

The well-merited success not only enabled the sky blues retain the most prestigious title of the season but helped them avenge the defeat in the trouble-torn Club Cup tournament final a few months back.

At the end of the journey Abahani accumulated 34 points from 13 matches while Mohammedan, who went into the match needing only a draw to recapture the crown, finished runners-up with 32 points.

The battle of the titans always promised to be an action-packed drama, but it was Mohammedan who let all their supporters down by their ordinary showing, especially by their defenders who were to blame for their heaviest defeat in five years.

Mohammedan also went down by the same margin against their old foes in 1997 in the Club Cup meet.

In yesterday's match, Abahani's Indian recruit Amor Ayamma was at the peak of his scoring touch as he blasted the board twice while Shamsuddin Tuhin, Ashraful Islam Shishu and Shahidullah Titu scored the other goals to complete the rout. Issa Miah netted the consolation goal for the losers.

"It was a total team work. We suffered a setback before the start of the league, but my boys worked hard to overcome all the oddities. Someone might have taken the shocking defeat against Sonali Bank otherwise, but it ultimately helped my team," a delighted acting Abahani coach Mahbub Harun, who took over the reins after Jumman Lusai's life ban, said after the match.

Captain Hedayetul Islam Rajib praised their Indian recruits, especially midfielder MK Prakash. He also echoed his coach's view that the defeat against the bankers was the turning point of their league campaign.

"We were confident about winning the match because we were a balanced side although we missed the services of a vital player like Rana," Rajib said.

On the other hand, Moha-mmedan blamed a first mistake for the comprehensive defeat.

"All went wrong after Pakistani Mohammad Sarwar failed to score from a penalty stroke in the very first minute. You just can't afford to let an opportunity like that go against these opponents. Our defence was also too fragile today," a gloomy Mohamme-dan coach Kawsar Ali told reporters as captain Musa Miah was in no mood to talk about the match.

Abahani led the first-half 1-0 when Ayamma hit the board in the 20th minute. But it was Moha-mmedan custodian Jahangir Alam who was at fault for the goal.

The sky blues didn't need to put in much effort to extend that margin against the frail Mohammedan defence.

Abahani custodian once again showed his mettle as he thwarted a number of good Mohammedan attempts including the Sarwar penalty stroke.

SONALI BANK THIRDMeanwhile, Sonali Bank completed their impressive league campaign with a 3-2 victory against Ajax Sporting Club in the earlier match at the same venue which placed them in the third position. They finished on 22 points while Ajax followed them with 19 points.