Abahani, Mariners close gap

Club Cup champions Abahani and defending champions Mariner Young's Club kept pressure on league leaders Mohammedan after notching convincing wins in the Super Five stage of the Green Delta Insurance Premier Division Hockey League at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday.

The Sky Blues, who were derailed from the title race following defeats against Mohammedan and Mariner Young's in the round robin stage, beat Ajax by 7-2 goals, thanks to a brace each from Tajuddin Ahmed and Roman Sarkar. Ashraful Islam and Mohammad Mohsin scored the other two goals for Abahani, who now have 33 points from 13 matches, three behind Mohammedan, with the latter holding a hundred percent win record from 12 matches. 

In the day's other match, Mariner Young's beat Sonali Bank 6-1, courtesy of a hattrick from Hasan Jubayer Niloy and a goal each from Mohammad Zulhairi, Farhad Ahmed Shitul and Ashraf Syed.

The win took the defending champions to 33 points from 12 matches as they stayed only three points behind the league leaders. Mohammedan, meanwhile, will have the opportunity to consolidate their lead further when they take on Abahani in one of the two matches today. A win for Abahani, on the other hand, might blow the title race wide open yet again.