Musa Mia put Abahani ahead in the 45th minute at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium but captain Mahbubullah Shakil's valiant display under the bar inspired Mohammedan to come back and force a 1-1 draw in regulation 70 minutes as substitute Rashed Hasan Rony cancelled their archrivals' lead with his first hit of the game.

The extra-time was 30 seconds old when the long-haired Habul, receiving a left-flank pass from former Abahani player Shamim Reza, turned on his heels and blasted a powerful hit into the bottom corner from top of the box to bring a stunning conclusion of the eight-team meet.

"We kept our cool because we knew we would get a few chances against Abahani, who were a stronger side. It paid good dividend because they missed a number of chances in the end due to hurry," said Mohammedan skipper Shakil. "The team spirit was great," the goalkeeper added.

The way Abahani dominated the embarrassingly one-sided first half cleared any doubt that Mohamme-dan began as underdogs. Having scored 20 goals in the past four matches, Abahani attackers Shuva, Sumon, Jimmy and Musa fired blank in the crunch time.

After Sumon put the ball wide of the unguarded post in the third minute, there was no respite for the Mohammedan backs against relentless sky-blue tides. But Shakil stood tall and denied a series of rival attempts on one-on-one to keep the black and whites in the game.

A goal by Jimmy was disallowed midway through the first half and the umpire awarded Abahani a penalty corner, the first of three in as many minutes but Rana and Issa Mia both put the ball straight to Shakil.

Mohammedan, who defended doggedly, earned one penalty corner and two corners but failed to test Abahani goalie Bappi for a single time.

Abahani kept the tempo and after squandering two more chances, Musa broke the deadlock with a rather 'soft goal'. The centre-half picked a long pass from their own half, sliced through two defenders and put the ball past an advancing Shakil.

The Mohammedan stick wielders were protesting the decision vehemently for unknown reasons and pushed the umpires, injuring one match official who was later replaced by the reserve umpire. A Mohammedan staff also rushed from the bench to attack the umpires with a hockey stick. Shamim Reza was yellow carded and was out for five minutes.

Mohammedan were given a lifeline in the 53rd minute when the umpire denied Abahani off a certain penalty stroke after Shakil tripped Shuva yards away from the goal.

And as their rivals began to show tired legs, Mohammedan made most of Rajib's clumsy defending to equalise on the hour from their first shot on goal. Shamim Reza intercepted Rajib's weak clearance to find Habul who cut the ball from deep inside the box to Rony who slammed an angular hit into the far post just a couple of minutes after his arrival on the turf.

Abahani had another chance to settle the issue just before the final hooter but Jimmy's drag from a penalty corner was saved by Shakil to take the match into extra time.

"I am happy that I have won this trophy with a half a team compared to the others. You need luck to win something and we had it. Abahani should have scored 2/3 goals in the first half and we would have had no chance at all. But we survived and my boys played well after conceding the goal," said Mohammedan coach Barkatullah Chapal.

Abahani coach Mahbub Harun rued the missed chances and said that their forwards lost the game. "The finishing we showed in the earlier games was not there. They were technically wrong, hitting the ball instead of pushing it on one-on-one situations. Still, we were denied off a 100 per cent penalty and the boys lost concentration after the match was halted for a long time due to Mohammedan players' attack on the umpires," told Harun.

Mohammedan picked up Tk 25,000 and Abahani Tk 20,000 as prize money while Abahani's Moududur Rahman Shuva was the top scorer with six goals.

Usha Krira Chakra finished third with a 4-1 win over Mariner Youngs Club in the play-off earlier on the day at the same venue.

Krishna struck twice while Kamal and Rimon one each for Usha while Shishu found the mark for Mariners.