Austin Mighty BDs
ATX Thundercats
Mighty BDs confirms the Knock-out spot
ATX Thundercats 0
This was another highly anticipated group match where the Austin Mighty BDs are pumped up to go all in for a win to advance to the Semis while ATX Thundercats look to secure their place with at least a draw. Thundercats had to play the match without their key players like Captain Manar, Nihal and Pallab while Mighty BDs were missing their superstar defender Zahedul Khan. A cloudless warm Austin day at nearly 100 degrees added an extra layer of challenge for both the teams even before the match began. But acting captains Liton from Thundercats and Bahar from Mighty BDs along with their teammates showed great energy and spirit throughout the game.
Mighty BDs maintained good ball possession from the beginning with Riyan leading the attack up front from midfield to offense while being tactically supported by Sami, Bahar, Shouvik and Munna. Tamim, Masum, Hasan, and Reza played their part as well with the smooth ball flow. Thundercats held up the defensive wall but the onslaught of attacks kept coming in frequently and mostly from the left side of the field. Defenders Omar, Asab, Nihad, Faisal and Rashed had a hard time neutralizing the ball and required assistance from Arbab who played a crucial role of resistance for the team. At one point, Omar and Faisal were trying to stop Riyan within the D-box and collided among themselves. The referee called for a penalty – which might have been seen by the Thundercats players as a “benefit of the doubt” decision. Riyan took the penalty to put Mighty BDs in the lead of 1-0.
After going on to lead, the Mighty BDs adjusted their pace of the game, controlling more of the ball possession towards center midfield from the likes of Mortuza, Shouvik and Sami. Meanwhile, Arbab, Tihar, Anol and Shadman from Thundercats tried to win over the ball and channel it towards Liton and Saymon. There were at least a couple of good chances created by Thundercats in the first half but the defenders of Mighty BDs – Reazul, Zahid Hasan and Faisal Rashid ensured that strikers Liton and Saymon had little time to shoot which eventually never caused a big threat to the Mighty BDs goalkeeper, Ayon. Thundercats missed arguably their best chance when a long shot from the midfield found Liton 1 on 1 with the keeper, but could not manage to head the ball into the net.
On the other end, Riyan and Sami kept applying pressure to the Thundercats defense. They won a free-kick from a dangerous spot and Riyan stepped up again for the free kick which went through the hands of the Thundercats keeper, Novo but the celebrations from Mighty BDs was short lived when the referee declared a foul that happened before the ball went in. The first half ended with Mighty BDs still leading by 1-0 and both teams still left the door towards the semi-final open. Second half started off well for Thundercats with more energy but Mighty BDS played intelligently controlling the clock and the pace of the game. Thundercats showed good flares of energy and skill from the youngsters Dhrubo and Arbab while being supported diligently by Anol and Tihar. The through ball towards Liton and Saymon was however made agonizingly rare because of the brilliant defense line of Mighty BDs. Faisal Rashid had a defender’s sense like a Ninja to position himself precisely for critical intercepts. It seemed like he was reading the game at a different level with “No Goal Today” goggles on. Reazul, Zahid Hasan and Wasim/Tamim/Reza all supported in the act of clearing the ball out of danger as demanded by situations.
Time to time, counter attacks from Mighty BDs through Bahar, Riyan and even Reazul were handled in a fairly better way during the second half by Thundercat defenders Asab, Nihad and Faisal as the trio created a wall and made sure that the team was out of danger. Thundercats made some attacks in this period though failed to hit the target. One shot from Dhrubo at the corner post almost made it in but it needed more power to get past Ayon who had it covered in the end. Both teams also tried to win free-kicks within the opposition D-box but the referee was not convinced on most of the occasions. With just a few minutes remaining, Thundercats tried to increase the intensity of the game providing license to core defenders like Nihad, Rashed and Omar to move up. This increased the pace of the game for Thundercat’s attack; but on the contrary, Sami, a reputed game reader, positioned himself near the opposition’s post. Riyan saw the scope and passed a huge long ball to Sami who made no mistake in beating the charging keeper Novo to score a goal. 2-0 for Mighty BDs and they managed to shut the semi-final door for Thundercats.
Thundercats might consider themselves unfortunate for the penalty kick, but it is undeniable that Mighty BDs showed their skills and intensity in securing this win under pressure. Curtains for Thundercats and Mighty BDs will face Austin Cougars in the semi-final.