After defending champions Muktijoddha's comprehensive 2-0 defeat of Mohammedan Sporting Club in the first semifinal, Brothers Union came back from a goal down to snatch a 2-1 win over Abahani in the second fixture of the day at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

This will be the first time in the history of local football that a major tournament final will be contested without the presence of either Abahani or Mohammedan. Instead, the two archrivals will feature in the third place decider today at the same venue at 7 pm. The final is slated for a 4:10 start on Thursday.

The Sky Blues looked the brighter of the two sides in the first half and infront of a 15,000-strong crowd, took the game to Brothers whose opening lineup boasted as many as nine Bangladesh internationals.

But Abahani had to wait until nine minutes into the second half before finally taking a deserving lead through Khokon. The joy did not last long as two stalwarts of the country Arman and Alfaz slotted two goals inside eight minutes to keep the Premier League champions on course for their second title of the season.

It was Brothers' first win over Abahani in the season but the Oranges were sweating when their rivals from Dhanmondi earned three corners within the first five minutes.

Abahani's midfielders were in total control and striker Ujjal threatened the Brothers goal on a number of occasions. He was denied a shot on goal by stopper Nazrul inside the penalty area in the 12th minute and fired off target two minutes later. Halfway through the first half, Ujjal weaved his way past three defenders but Brothers goalkeeper Biplab made a brilliant save on the youngster's low drive from ten yards.

The experienced Brothers line-up got their only real chance of the first half to test opposition goaltender Nizam in the 36th minute but Topu's header on a cross by fullback Titu went wide.

Ujjal, who appeared unstoppable on the right flank, cut back another dangerous cross but Khokon failed to connect the ball which harmlessly ran across the goal just before the break.

The assault continued and Khokon finally broke the deadlock in the 54th minute. The striker broke an offside trap following a Pranotosh cross from the right and placed the ball neatly through the legs of Biplab from seven yards (1-0).

Before Abahani could get comfortable, Brothers showed their true colours. Alfaz dashed his way into the danger zone from the left flank in the 65th minute and saw his scorching right-footer partially blocked by Nizam. But the half-cleared ball fell invitingly for Arman on top of the D and in a split second genius the maverick playmaker noticing Nizam was out of his line, clipped the ball into the far corner of the net with his right foot (1-1).

Alfaz, who was later adjudged man of the match, then sealed the victory with a powerful header when Monwar found him unmarked with in the 73rd minute.

Abahani created two chances in the dying minutes but Biplab once again rescued Brothers when his reflex parried a wicked deflection in a long-range effort by substitute Parvez while Masud Rana's drive from 20 yards skimmed the crossbar.

"It was a big match and our players did not start well against a very good side. I'll give credit to Abahani for stretching us early. I think the match was tougher for us than any other game this season," said Brothers coach Syed Naimuddin after the match.

"We made a lot of miss-passes under pressure from the opposition but I am proud of the boys because they managed to settle down at the right time. They fought back like champions and I can see that the Bangladeshi footballers have learned the way to play after going behind like the Europeans and the Africans," the former Indian national coach added.

His Abahani counterpart Amlesh Sen blamed two technical errors for the defeat.

"After Nizam stopped Alfaz's shot, the defenders should have gone for a long clearance. But they kept the ball in the danger zone and it came back to Arman. Niazm was also not in the right position when Arman lobbed him to score the equaliser. Secondly, Alfaz was completely unmarked when he slotted the winner. Our rightback (Siraji) could not come back in time after he went up to take a corner. He should have not gone to take that corner," rued the former national midfielder.

An upset Abahani captain Joy said that they lost the match due to lack of a quality striker.

"We should have scored at least two goals from the chances we created in the first half. We dominated the match for an hour but they stole it in the remaining time. It was expected that a strong team like Brothers will go all out but our exhausted defenders left their attackers completely unmarked," lamented Joy.

Alfaz hailed team effort but Brothers captain termed Abahani's goal as an offside.

"It was 100 per cent offside but we overcame that setback. It was exhausting playing two matches against the same side in three days and it was the reason we were a little slow at the start," the man-of-the-match said.

Yellow cards: Rajani, Parvez, Monwar (Brothers) and Nayan (Abahani).

TEAMS

Brothers: Biplab, Titu, Nazrul, Sujan, Rajani, Parvez, Iqbal (Abul, 53rd minute), Arman, Monwar (Rikto, 88th), Alfaz and Topu (Ritu, 89th).

Abahani: Nizam, Siraji, Hassan, Shawkat, Masud Rana, Joy, Pranotosh (Wali, 83rd), Nayan (Parvez, 80th), Ndem, Ujjal and Khokon.

Referee: Ibrahim Nesar.