Bagan held 0-0 in Calcutta Football League

KOLKATA: Mohun Bagan's winning run in their Calcutta Football League Premier Division A campaign came to an end as they were held goalless by Peerless SC at the club ground on Monday evening. The green and maroons thus moved up to 13 points from five matches, two points behind table-toppers East Bengal. Peerless SC, on the other hand, now have eight points from five encounters.The kick-off for the match was delayed after the Mohun Bagan team management pointed out certain discrepancies and last-minute changes made to the rival team list. The match finally began about 20 minutes behind schedule after the matter was resolved.Bagan coach Shankarlal Chakraborty had started with just one foreigner in striker Darryl Duffy with both Haroon Amiri and Daniel Bidemi on the bench. The Federation Cup champions’ midfield failed to operate the way it had done in the last four games and the heavy underfoot condition — a result of the relentless rainfall over the last couple of days — also made it difficult for them to pass the ball.At the same time, credit should be given to the Peerless SC defence led by Kingsley Obumneme for keeping things as tight as possible and marking Duffy brilliantly, not offering him any room to maneouver.Bagan were unable to create clear openings and it was Peerless SC striker Ansumana Kromah who came close to breaking the deadlock in the 32nd minute with a dipping volley that just went over the mark. The marksman could have scored in the added-on time of the first session when he was one-on-one with Bagan goalkeeper Arnab Das Sharma but Raju Gaikwad provided a timely interception to avert the danger.The Bagan coach brought on Bidemi in place of Tapan Maity early in the second session but nothing much changed. On the other side, Syed Rahim Nabi came close for Peerless SC with an angled drive before Argha Chakraborty created a huge scare for Bagan in the 68th minute with an acrobatic volley which beat Arnab but luckily ricocheted off the crosspiece.Bagan finally came close in the 78th minute when Prabir Das' first-time left-footed shot off a cross by Azharuddin Mallick was kept away by Peerless SC goalkeeper Sankar Roy, diving to his left. A couple of minutes later, Bagan defender Sanjay Balmuchu missed the easiest chance of the match when he failed to head into an open net off a free-kick by Gaikwad.Shankarlal Chakraborty also introduced Ajay Singh for Duffy towards the end but the goal remained elusive.