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In a first, the East Bengal Reserves were crowned Champions of the recently concluded GTA Chairman's Gold Cup in Kalimpong, also known as the Darjeeling Gold Cup, on Sunday. This was the first ever win for the newly formed Reserve side, after the advent of Bengaluru-based tech giants Quess Corporation, comprising players from the previous year's U18 Squad and the ones who were devoid of game time in the I-League squad.
Sportskeeda reviews the journey of the East Bengal Reserves in the knock-out tournament :
Quarter Final: East Bengal B 2-2 Royal FC Siliguri (PEN: 5-4)
East Bengal began the game on a positive note and were soon awarded the breakthrough as early as the 24th minute through the Captain Surabuddin Mollick. Royal FC Siliguri kept on pushing for the equaliser since the East Bengal goal and restored parity in the 58th minute through Buddhabal Tamang. The game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Royal FC stunned the small chunk of East Bengal fans in the ground as they went ahead in the 100th minute during Extra Time through Vivek Bhutia. Lalchhanhima's brilliant trickery left the Royal FC Siliguri defenders for dead as he equalised in the 110th minute to make it 2-2.
The Junior Red and Golds eventually prevailed as the outfield players along with Mirshad kept their cool to win it 5-4 in the Penalty Shoot-out.
Semi-Final: East Bengal B 0-0 Kalighat MS (PEN: 4-2)
Kalighat MS looked the better side in the initial moments of the game at the NP Ground in Darjeeling. They kept on delivering the ball into the East Bengal box, troubling Mirshad and his back four in the first half. In the second half, East Bengal were a changed side as they created few goal-scoring chances of their own at the opposite side of the goal.
The teams could not be separated after 120 minutes which led to the dreaded Penalty Shoot-out. The Red and Golds prevailed yet again as Mirshad pulled off a brilliant save followed by a Kalighat miss as the Kolkata Giants qualified for the Cup Final with a 4-2 shoot-out win.
Final: East Bengal 0-0 Mohammedan SC (PEN: 3-1)
Mohammedan SC began the game with an offensive approach, keeping the East Bengal defenders ever busy with Philip Adjah making some darting runs down the pitch. The Black Panthers had their first shot go inches wide of the target from the Ghanian in the 16th Minute. Mohammedan SC gradually got total control over the game with the lion's share of possession and more shots.
East Bengal did try to slow down the game and play some football of their own. However, a sturdy defender in the form of Prosenjit Paul left no space for the East Bengal's young strikers, Lalchhanhima and Jhantu Prasad to exploit.
After a cagey 90 minutes of football, the game went into Extra Time. Both sides showed signs of exhaustion and fatigue which was evident in the additional 30 minutes of play which consisted of no goal-mouth action. The game thus went to the Penalty Shoot-out.
A brilliant presence of mind from Mirshad handed the Red and Golds, yet another Shoot-out triumph as they ran out 3-1 winners to clinch the title.
