T&T striker Marcus Joseph continued his early season rich vein of form by scoring a stunning brace to lead Mohammedan Sporting Club to an emphatic 3-1 victory over Tollygunje Agragami in the Sister Nivedita University (SNU)-sponsored Calcutta Football League Premier Division A qualifier at the Kalyani Stadium on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old Joseph who just failed to lead Mohammedan SC to the Indian Durand Cup title after a 1-0 loss to FC Goa in the final on Saturday last, opened the scoring for the 11-time tournament winners Mohammedan SC in the 19th minute which they carried into the half-time interval.
Eight minutes after the resumption Phrangki Buam doubled the advantage for Mohammedan before Joseph, who was the Durand Cup "Golden Boot" winner with five goals got his second in the 73rd to put his team well on the way to victory.
With seven minutes left in the contest, Christopher Chizoba pulled a goal back for Tollygunje Agragami from the penalty-spot, but it was too little to late to deny Joseph and his team mates the victory.
Mohammedan falls short in Durand Cup final
On Sunday, Joseph's Mohammedan came up short in the Indian Durand Cup final, losing 1-0 to FC Goa in front of 34,000 spectators at their home venue, the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
Edu Bedia produced a spectacular finish curling home a free-kick midway in the extra-time as FC Goa beat the home favourites to win their maiden Durand Cup while Mohammed just failed to add to their four previous triumphs, the last of which came in 2013.
The two teams were locked goalless at the end of regulation time before the Spanish play-maker came up with a brilliant finish in the 105th minute to decide the title.
It was only a warm-up tournament but the final between this season’s Indian Super League (ISL) favourites FC Goa, and I-League contender Mohammedan, who compete simultaneously in the Calcutta Premier League, provided plenty of talking points going into the beginning of the new season.
FC Goa maintained their 100 per cent record with the win to be crowned champions of Asia’s oldest Cup competition.
The goal handed Goa’s Spanish coach Juan Ferrando his first title with the club after he took over last year. Despite the loss, Joseph, who led previous club Gokulam Kerala to the title two years ago over Mohun Bagan was named as the “Golden Boot” winner with five goals, the same as FC Goa’s Devendra Murgaonkar while fellow T&T international Willis Plaza ended with four goals for FC Delhi.