Cooperage’s favourite team signs off from Indian football on a winning
note as David Booth’s boys beat JCT 2-1 in their last I-League fixture.
Such was the magnanimity of the occasion, that almost everything that transpired during the 90 minutes of football between Mahindra United and JCT went unnoticed.
It was a day when Cooperage’s favourite team, Mahindra, finally bid adieu to competitive football, in their quest for developing budding talent from the grassroot level.
For the record, Mahindra beat JCT 2-1 in the final match of the I-League to move to third place, but the result wasn’t such a big deal after all.
There were no tears or regrets. As the referee blew the final whistle, Mahindra players, equipped with their digicams, captured their final moments in the red-and-black colours of Mahindra.
There were the hugs and the thank yous, the well wishes and the goodbyes. And there were scenes that are seldom witnessed in domestic football — the standing ovation by the crowd, followed by players signing autographs and posing for pictures with the fans.
“Mahindra would not have shut the doors if half of such scenes were seen in the past years,” admitted Mahindra coach David Booth.
But the handful few who filled up the wooden stand at Cooperage, didn’t witness a vintage Mahindra performance. In fact, it was anything but Mahindra-like. And understandably so.
The players — some who are looking for new clubs and some who have already signed new contracts — went into challenges half-heartedly to prevent any kind of injuries.
Booth decided to give some of the reserves a look in. Laukik Jadhav, Bhola Prasad, Sukhwinder Singh, Surajit Bose and Subhodeep Mukherjee were given opportunities to start ahead of veterans like K Ajayan, who witnessed the action from the stands.
As for the on-field action, after a barren half hour, Sukhwinder broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute after latching on to a through by Mohammad Rafi. Left winger Paresh Shivalkar bolstered the lead just before the half time, his weak right-footer from Surajit Bose’s pass just managed to scrape past the JCT ‘keeper. Nna Henry Ezeh pulled one back for the visitors in the 48th minute but JCT will rue the number of chances they missed.
But in the end, the result didn’t seem to matter. “It’s an emotional day, no doubt. Mahindra will surely be missed,” Booth said.
As they say, all good things have to come to an end…
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