Chittagong Abahani and Uttar Baridhara reach top flight

After serving two years in second tier football, Chittagong Abahani confirmed their return to the top flight Bangladesh Premier League after beating Rahmatganj MFS 2-1 in the Premier Bank Bangladesh Championship League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. Chittagong Abahani’s victory also resulted in second place Uttar Baridhara Club gaining promotion to the premier league for the first time in their 18-year history, with one round to play. After 13 matches, the Chittagong outfit are leading the eight-team league with 27 points, while the Baridhara based club trail them by three points. Third-placed Rahmatganj are six points behind Uttar Baridhara, with just one game left. Javed Khan opened the scoring for the visitors with 10 minutes on the clock, before Nurul Absar equalised in the 20th minute. Ismail Jahed struck in the 83rd minute strike to seal the victory for his team. Chittagong Abahani coach Nazrul Islam Ledu was a delighted man after the game but wary of not letting the championship slip in his first season with Chittagong sky-blues. A draw in their last game against bottom side Dhaka United SC will be enough for Chittagong Abahani to secure the title. “Now our first concern is the championship title. It feels really great to get promoted to the top flight but now we want to make sure we earn at least a point in the last game to clinch the title,” said the former Chittagong Mohammedan coach, who took the Chittagong Black and whites to the semi-final of the first Super Cup in 2009. It will be the first time that Uttar Baridhara Club, which was established in 1995, will join the top flight of football. The Baridhara outfit were promoted to the second division in the 2007-07 season after clinching the third division title. They were unlucky not to be promoted to the first division in their first season in the second division, where they finished league runners-up. Md Jibon, with 12 goals in 13 games, has been the most prolific player for Uttar Baridhara this season and is already wanted by several top flight clubs, along with Chittagong Abahani’s Sohel Miah.