Kolkata, Sep 30: Salgaocar dashed East Bengal's hopes of winning a hat trick of titles as they cruised to a 3-1 victory in the final of the 33rd Federation Cup football tournament here on Thursday.
Edeh Chidi (5') and Francis Fernandes (19') gave Salgaocar a 2-0 lead early into the first half before substitute Ryuji Sueoka (66') finished the issue much ahead of regulation time, to hand the Goans the title after a gap of 14 years.
Cheered on by a boisterous crowd, East Bengal rode on Alan Gow's 25th minute strike from the spot but, without their inspirational midfielder Mehtab Hussain who lasted less than five minutes, they could not match the reigning I-League champions.
If it was a complete tactical failure for East Bengal coach Trevor James Morgan, for his counterpart Karim Bencherifa the win was really special as the Moroccan has just tasted a ‘double', winning both the I-League and Federation Cup in the same calendar year.
Bencherifa, who had coached Mohun Bagan to the title three years ago, thus guided Salgaocar to their fourth Federation Cup title after a gap of 14 years. It was against the same side and at the same venue Salgaocar, who were also champions in 1988 and 1989, had won the national knockout title in 1997.
The chinks in Morgan's armoury were exposed early on when his bold move to bring on a half-fit Mehtab Hussain backfired.
The Englishman's overdependence on the injured Hussain came to the fore when he named him in the starting line-up, but the central midfielder could last only four minutes.
Hussain could not withstand an aerial challenge, as he had to be taken off heavily strapped as Morgan was forced to field winger Sanju Pradhan in the unusual position. No sooner than Hussain was substituted, Salgaocar fired in the lead in a move created from a short free kick in the midfield.
Elijah Junior supplied the ball to Biswajit Saha before Chidi, with a magical piece of work, left East Bengal's Harmanjot clueless.
Salgaocar added to East Bengal's misery when Fernandes finished brilliantly from a solo run from the right flank.
Fernandes beat Saumik Dey and Raju Gaikwad on his run before shooting it directly to East Bengal custodian Sandip Nandy who could not hold the ball as he scored from the return in a superb display of improvisation.
Down 0-2 in the first 20 minutes, in front of thousands of home supporters, East Bengal found themselves in total disarray.
Desperately needing a divine intervention, East Bengal benefited after being awarded a penalty when Luciano Sabrosa brought down Orji Penn inside the box, pulling his jersey in a 23rd minute move.
East Bengal's Scottish signing Gow easily converted from to bring much-needed relief in the local camp. PTI
