Feni Soccer Club have all but secured their place in the top flight for the upcoming season while Uttar Baridhara are on the brink of relegation after the encounter between the two bottom sides of the Nitol-Tata Bangladesh Premier Football League ended in a 4-1 win for Feni Soccer Club at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
The soggy pitch of Bangabandhu National Stadium didn’t trouble the Soccer Club’s foreign recruits much as their Gambian midfielder Darling Darboe slammed a sensational second-half hattrick, his first in Bangladesh, to earn his side three vital points in style against a 10-man Baridhara side.
It was Soccer Club’s first premier league victory in last 14 matches spanning a period of almost three months, and only their second win out of 25 games alongside 12 draws. They now have 18 points which is six more than that of Baridhara. With two games in hand, only a point in their last two matches would be enough for them to confirm their place in the league.
It was all about Feni Soccer Club’s unquestionable dominance in yesterday’s encounter as Ali Hasan put Soccer Club ahead after just nine minutes of the match. Collecting a back pass from right-back Ala Uddin, the local midfielder dribbled past two Baridhara defenders before slotting home past Baridhara keeper Osman Goni to give his side a 1-0 lead.
Uttar Baridhara’s hope of salvaging anything out of the match received a major blow when they were reduced to 10 men six minutes into the second half after Ahsanul Kabir Masud received straight red card for his clumsy foul on Azmal Hossain Bidduit.
Soccer Club capitalized on the numerical advantage as Landing Darboe scored the first of his three goals through a screamer of a volley to double Soccer Club’s lead in the 59th minute. Receiving the ball from 30 yards out, the Gambian unleashed a powerful volley to find the back of the net into bottom right corner.
Although substitute forward Dulal Hasan pulled one back for Baridhara in the 69th minute, it wasn’t enough for them to prevent Darboe’s impending onslaught. It was a Khalekur Jamen corner from left side which found Dulal inside the six-yard box who out-muscled his marker to head the ball home past Nehal into the near post to revive Baridhara’s hopes of survival.
But Landing netted his second of the day in the 76th minute from a penalty after Baridhara’s Nigerian defender Oyeyemi Olabanji brought down Landing inside the penalty area. The Gambian midfielder made no mistake to send the ball into the net from the spot. He then completed his hattrick in the 84th minute. After a neat one-to-one with Chuka Charles, Landing broke into the penalty area and smashed home past Osman into the far post.
Meanwhile, in the day’s other match, Muktijoddha Sangsad continued their fine form and registered their third consecutive victory when they edged past Brothers Union 1-0 at the Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium. In-form striker Nkwocha Kingsley netted the all important winner in the 61st minute. It was Nkwocha’s 15th goal in the league this season, third highest in the top scorers’ list of the premier league.