Mohun Bagan finish second

Defending champions Mohun Bagan were dethroned, as the curtain came down on the fifth National Football League, despite a 2-0 victory win over Bangalore giants ITI in an action-packed concluding league round match in Bangalore on Monday.

The victory saw Bagan finish with 45 points. But that turned out to be just a point less than East Bengal, who defeated State Bank of Travancore 2-0, at Thiruvananthapuram, in another match played simultaneously to win the title.

ITI finished with 22 points.

Mohun Bagan shot into the lead in the 42nd minute as Brazilian Jose Barretto, the league's top scorer with 14 goals, gave a superb pass to Basudeb Mondal, whose splendid header was on target.

After the breather, Amar Ganguly banged home off a James Singh pass in the 56th minute to seal ITI's fate.

Minutes before the final whistle, an altercation broke out among the players as tempers ran high. Kenneth Raj (ITI) and Mondal (Mohun Bagan) were shown red cards by the referee. Timely intervention by the police prevented the situation from getting out of control.

ITI had a few chances, especially in the second half, but the forwards failed to convert any.