In a match of contrasting fortunes, newly crowned champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club thrashed relegation bound Uttar Baridhara 6-0 in the Nitol-Tata Bangladesh Premier Football League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. Forward Shakhawat Hossain Rony slammed a hat-trick for the winners whose prowess proved to be too much in the lopsided affair.
The loss confirmed Baridhara’s demotion from the top flight this year and sealed their place as the promotee side of the second tier, the Bangladesh Championship League.
Jamal would have won by a bigger margin but they faced stiff resistance from Osman Goni, the Baridhara keeper who singlehandedly saved his team from conceding a few more goals.
Rony put Jamal ahead in the very sixth minute of the match. Rony’s brilliant interception enabled him to take control of the ball from an opposition defender as he hit the far post net with an angular shot.
Haitian forward Wedson Anselme doubled the lead in the 16th minute with a solo effort. The tall forward, receiving the ball from midfield, dodged past two opponent defenders before unleashing a fierce right footer towards the far post net.
Rony scored his second and third for Jamal in the 24th minute, playing a neat one-two with partner Toklis Ahmed. Rony completed the job with a right footed grounder from the edge of the box.
In the 60th minute Wedson curved a free kick from 20 yards out but Osman managed to tip the ball over the crosspiece. Four minutes later Osman denied Toklis with a reflex save.
Rony could have completed his hat-trick in the 72nd minute but he failed to head a Toklis corner into an empty net despite being unmarked in the six-yard box.
Toklis notched Jamal’s fourth five minutes later with a solo effort, running onto a through pass from Raihan Hasan. Toklis beat the onrushing Osman in the far post with a delicate touch.
Rony, however, succeeded in completing his treble in the 89th minute when he volleyed home a Toklis cross into the middle of the net.
Wedson completed the rout in the 90th minute with a 20-yarder.
Following this win, Jamal took their tally to 61 points from 26 matches while relegation-bound Baridhara remained at the bottom of the table with 12 points from the same number of games.
