Malik stars as Bagan win the match

Okolie Odafe stepped onto the ground not before the 65th minute of play.

The job, though, was more or less done, thanks to the strikes from Denson Devadas and Sankar Oraon as McDowell Mohun Bagan secured a 2-0 win over Bhowanipore Club in Sunday’s CFL Premier Division Championship Round match, at the Barasat Stadium.

One aspect evident from Sunday’s match was the amount of workload promising youngster Ram Malik is ready to take.

It was his set-up that put Oraon clear in a goal-mouth area before the latter was brought down inside the box by a rival defender. The referee rightly awarded a penalty, which Denson Devadas converted easily, putting Bagan ahead at the stroke of half-time.

Thirteen minutes into the second session, Malik dashed through the right flank and laid a cross for an unmarked Oraon, who comfortably slotted the ball home.

Soon after, Bencharifa brought in the man everyone had been eagerly waiting for. Playing his first match of the season, and that too, after recovering from an injury, Odafe did appear to be a tad slow. But whenever the ball was in his possession, even as many as three rival players found it difficult to snatch the ball away.