East Bengal win National League

Calcutta giants East Bengal beat State Bank of Travancore 2-0 in their concluding league match at Thiruvananthapuram to win the fifth National Football League on Monday.

The victory swelled their points tally to 46, just one more than defending champions Mohun Bagan, who also won their last match against ITI 2-0, at Bangalore.

East Bengal, who placed seventh in the last edition, thus picked their maiden National League title and along with it Rs 4 million, the winner's purse.

Their star striker Omolaja Olaekhah got both the goals, in the 43rd and 74th minutes, following defensive lapses after SBT custodian Feroze Sharif advanced to intercept passes by opposition strikers.

First, the keeper advanced to collect East Bengal striker Dependu Biswas's pass. Although bank captain Jiju Jacob tried to intercept, Olalekah charged in and simply lobbed the ball into the net.

The second goal also came in the same way as medio Isik Awoyemi's pass was neatly intercepted and lobbed in by Olaleka.

Coach Manoranjan Bhattacharjee said his boys deserved the win. "Determination and fitness of the team won us the title," he said.

While State Bank of Travancore and Air-India are relegated to the second division, Punjab Police and Hindustan Aeronautics qualified for the sixth league.