Chirag United outplayed Shillong Lajong FC 3-0 in the final of the E.K. Nayanar memorial Gold Cup all-India football tournament here on Wednesday. The Kolkatans triumphed in front of a near capacity crowd of more than 20,000 football lovers.
Edmilson Marques (ninth minute), Gouranga Dutta (16th) and substitute Lal Kamal Bhowmick (77th) were the scorers.
Chirag seemed determined to lift the Gold Cup, made of 150 sovereigns of gold, right from the word go and it wasted little time in mounting tremendous pressure on the Shillong half. With Edmilson, who had a good tournament here, Mathew Grbesa, Parveen Kumar and Gouranga Biswas making menacing moves down the left flank, it was only a matter of time before the Kolkatans opened their account.
They scored inside the first 10 minutes, as Edmilson's splendid solo run on the right bore fruit in splendid fashion. He went past a clueless Shillong defence and comprehensively beat the goalkeeper R Lalthuammawia.
The second goal came off a beautifully orchestrated move, featuring skipper and local lad Denson Devadas, Parveen and Gouranga Biswas and Dutta, that saw the ball travelling from one flank to the other. With Chirag going 2-0 up in just the 16th minute, it was certainly going to be a long night for Lajong.
Though the men from Shillong tried to show some urgency after the interval, they couldn't penetrate a confident Chirag defence. Then, Bhowmick, who came in for Parveen, sealed the issue with the third goal.
Kerala Minister for Home and Tourism, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who was the chief guest at the closing ceremony, gave away the trophy to a richly-deserving Chirag.
