#3 Balwant impresses after picked over Jeje
Given the fact that Jeje wasn’t fully match-fit and also keeping his injury in mind, Sanjay Sen was compelled to opt for Balwant Singh over the Indian goal-machine.
An experienced campaigner, who started his career at JCT, Balwant had a lot to prove as he was being fielded after almost a year for Mohun Bagan. With 27 goals to vaunt about in his kitty, he had an eagle-eye for the net.
He started in an imperative fashion too in the game. He was in the thick of things right from the outset and notched up Bagan’s first set-piece within just 3 minutes, and seemed menacing near the Churchill goal. Adeel had to trip him to oust him of the possession and the referee laid down the law admonishing Adeel, a former Mohun Bagan player.
Katsumi Yusa sent in a peach of a free-kick for Kean Lewis to chest it down brilliantly, squaring off Balwant who volleyed it straight at a defender. Had he not been so itchy to polish it off and took his time, he could have spelt early danger for Churchill.
Three minutes later, Lewis came up with another delightful cross. However, Priyant Singh waylaid and cut the ball short. While he stood tall in exultation, Balwant was breathing right on his neck and the slightest of error could have seen him pounce on the opportunity. He was also involved in a rough tussle that left Keegan Almeida bloodied as Balwant’s right elbow caught his eyebrow while both of them went for the ball.
Balwant’s diligence finally paid dividends when he out-jumped his marker Keegan to slap a powerful header into the net, after being teed up by a gem of a cross from Pritam Kotal. Kingshuk Debnath crafted a delectable ball for Pritam Kotal, who latched onto it and laid the plinth for Mohun Bagan’s goal.
After the goal, Balwant started to seem a lot more vicious as he was brilliantly switching sides with Duffy, never letting the defenders to settle.
