Feni Soccer Club knocked defending champions Sheikh Russell out in the quarter-finals of the Independence Cup as the outsiders beat them 4-3 in penalties at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Wednesday. The match went to the tiebreaker with the scores level at 2-2 after regulation and extra time, and Feni Soccer Club registered the victory after Jamaican Ricardo Cousins and Uruguayan Francisco Usukar failed the converted their spot kicks for Sheikh Russell.
Sheikh Russell, who earlier lost the Federation Cup title, lost another chance to hold onto a title.
Feni are currently the bottom side of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League.
Feni’s Gambian coach Omar K Cisse transformed his team after the first phase of the league by recruiting some new foreign faces, which increased the strength of the team.
They went ahead in the 7th minute when newly-recruited Gambian forward Kabba Jobe placed a forward pass from compatriot Mathew Mendy inside the far post of advancing Russell goalkeeper Biplob Bhattacharya.
Sheikh Russell tried hard to come back but their attackers missed many scoring opportunity throughout the game.
Feni also wasted many golden opportunities to increase the lead, as Mandy and Nigerian Chuka Charles broke through Russell’s defence on a regular basis but failed to double the lead.
Mandy missed the best chance in the 85th minute, failing to convert a spot kick after Charles was brought down by Russell defender Rezaul Karim inside the box.
Russell levelled the match in the second-last minute of the regulation time when Ricardo’s chip during a goalmouth melee went into the net after deflecting off the Feni keeper.
Sheikh Russell went ahead in the 115th minute after Shahinur Rahman fouled Robin inside the box and Pascal converted the spot kick.
But Charles kept his side alive with the equaliser one minute later, receiving a cross from Rony Islam from the right and coolly sending the ball into the net.
In the tiebreaker, Jobe, Mandy, Biddyut and Landing scored and Ali Hasan missed for Feni, while Mithun Chowdhury, Serbian Miroslav Savanovic and Haitian Pascal converted successfully for Russell, but Cousins and Francisco failed to score.
-With New Age input
