Rainbow SC edge past spirited West Bengal Police in crucial CFL affair

Midfielders Sujoy Dutta, Sourav Ray and Suraj Mahata put up great displays as they created chances for their frontmen to make the most of.

Foreigners were on a roll for Rainbow SC as goals from Eric Dano and Penn Orji helped them beat West Bengal Police 2-1 in a Calcutta Football League match played earlier today.

Head coach Tarit Ghosh was eager to pick up all three points against the weakenr WB Police side, as they are the only outfit without a single foreign player and are yet to register a win in this year's Calcutta Football League.

WB Police looked positive right from the start as whenever they got a chance, they tried to put pressure on the Rainbow defense. On 20 minutes, the Police sailed in a cross from the left flank, which almost went in as Rainbow goalkeeper Ankur Das was forced to make a stunning save to keep it away from goal at the expense of a corner.

Rainbow reciprocated with an attack of their own when Orji's cross from the left flank was intended towards Joel Sunday. But, resilient defending from Police SC's Shaikh Shahrukh cleared the ball away right from Sunday's path.

But, their efforts bore fruit when the following corner was not cleared properly by the Police defenders, as Suraj Mahato's shot was blocked, but Sujoy Datta collected the ricochet and laid it into the path of Dano. The Ivorian defender's shot thundered into the net as Rainbow took a well-deserved lead in the 28th minute.

Rainbow increased their advantage when Mahato's defence-splitting ball found the forward-surging Orji in space. The Nigerian's first effort was parried by Police custodian Soumava Ghosh. But, Orji kept his calm and picked up the ball again and excellently slotted it into the open net.

Rainbow kept on pushing the Police defense and with five minutes left in the first half, Orji's pinpoint cross from the right flank found Sunday unmarked in the penalty box, but his compatriot was not up to the mark as his weak effort was easily claimed by shot-stopper Soumava.

Orji could have added to his tally in first half injury-time, when Mahato's exquisite pass from the right flank found the experienced Nigerian, but Orji failed to make a proper connection with the ball going miles away from the target.

The first chance in the second half also belonged to Rainbow, when Sunday was freed thanks to a lobbed pass from his team's midfield. The former Langsning FC forward went one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but his shot was excellently saved by Soumava.

Rainbow midfielders Sujoy Dutta, Sourav Ray and Suraj Mahata put up great displays as they created chances for Sunday and Orji to make forward runs.

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WB Police came very close to scoring when Koushik's free-kick from the right side was headed well by forward Shaikh Shamim, but to his bad luck, the ball struck the far post and went wide of goal. WB Police were looking eager to score and in this instance, their fortune had other ideas.

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The Police finally had a golden opportunity to score in the 88th minute when Koushik's corner found substitute Mithun Sardar's arm in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Seiboi Haokip who was given the responsibility to take the spot-kick for WB Police made no mistake to convert.

It was a spirited performance from the West Bengal Police side in the second half, but it was a little too late for Sahadev Bhowmick's men in the end as Rainbow ran out winners.