Nitol-Tata National Football League
Four-star Moni
Staff Correspondent, Khulna
Saifur Rahman Moni slammed four goals as reigning champions Muktijoddha Sangsad joined Abahani in the Super Six stage of the fourth Nitol-Tata National Football League with a 7-1 thrashing of Panchagarh Brothers Union in the last match of Khulna-leg at the local stadium yesterday.Rwandan forward Kabua also contributed two goals in the biggest win of the competition so far while Rokonuzzaman Kanchan added the other for the Dhaka giants who raised their tally to nine points from three games. The Panchagarh boys, on four points after four outings, now must beat home side Chittagong Mohammedan in their last match to keep alive the hopes of booking a Super Six berth from Group A. The first half of the match, however, was not an embarrassingly one-sided affair like the second session. The north-Bengal outfit fought hard on a muddy pitch, worsened by heavy downpour before the kickoff, and created a clear-cut chance within the first half an hour. An unmarked Jet spoiled the opportunity when he failed to capitalise on a defence blunder, shooting the ball wide of the near post from a handshaking distance. But the mighty Muktis continued to press on and after Brothers keeper thwarted two good attempts, Moni's lone effort broke the 42-minute deadlock. The floodgate then opened for Muktijoddha who doubled the lead two minutes after the break when Moni headed home a cross by Kanchan. Diminutive forward Kanchan, who looked irrepressible at the flank, was also behind the third goal when he set up Kabua to score his first goal on the one-hour mark. Kabua found the net again in three minutes when the robust striker dribbled past three rival booters including the goalkeeper to make it 4-0. Moni completed his treble -- the third of the league -- with a spectacular header on a left-flank centre by Kanchan halfway through the second half. Substitute Mohammad Alam netted a consolation goal for Brothers 10 minutes from time. But the dying minutes turned out to be a nightmare for them as Kanchan scored once again and set up another for man-of-the-match and fellow national striker Moni inside the last three minutes. Yellow cards: Saiful, Enamul (Muktijoddha) and Mojibur (Panchagarh Brothers). TEAMS
MUKTIJODDHA: Aminul (Titu), Hassan Al Mamun, Pradip (Deen Mohammed), Papel, Lajuk (Enamul), Biddyut, Kabir, Kanchan, Kabua and Moni. PANCHAGARH BROTHERS: Shapath, Mojibur, Jibon, Sony, Jet, Sumi, Nayan (Palash), Chanchal, Najib, Mantri (Alam) and Zakir (Ainul). Referee: Ibrahim Nesar.
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