Muhammad Hamza
BIRMINGHAM PLAYED host to a football festival as Stepney based Beanibazar Sporting Club lifted the inaugural 2018 Birmingham Over-35s Veterans Football Cup.
Kickstarting their campaign, Team BB beat Birmingham FC 2-0 in the first encounter with captain Abdul Wahid scoring the opener after good interplay between player manager Saim Hussain, Imdadul Haque and Ruhul Alam. Khalid Ahmed and Jahangir Salam combined to assist the skipper seal the win with a neat second strike.
The second game produced a dead end as Beanibazar lost 1-0 to Lozells Strikers, but they went close to drawing – or even winning – through stinging efforts from Akbal Ahmed and Saim Hussain.
With a must-win game against Balagonj in the third group game decider, Beanibazar cruised home 3-0, with Abdul Wadud assisting Abul Hussain for the first. Afazul Haque whipped in a left footer for Abdul Wahid to double the lead, and Abdal Ahmed’s long punt was latched onto perfectly by Abul Hussain for a third.
The final against Lozells Strikers saw Team BB beat their old foes 2-0. Goalkeeper Shumon Rahman’s long punt was finished off clinically by Abul Hussain before the marauding striker deftly controlled a through ball from Wahid to wrap up the game.
The moment was sweeter for Hussain, who had played most of the tournament bandaged up after suffering a bloody head gash in the second game. A one two between Khalid Ahmed and Emdad Rahman almost led to a Hussain hat trick, but the ball was deemed not to have crossed the line.
Birmingham football legend Anayeth Hussain said, after presenting the winners’ trophy, “We played football in great spirits today. The atmosphere was tremendous and the standard of football excellent. This is football at its best.”
Joint Beanibazar managers Emdad Rahman and Saim Hussain commented, “This is part of our Greater Sylhet Cup preparations for 26th August and today was a good day for team bonding, camaraderie, game tactics and casting a critical eye over our players. We played absolutely everyone who travelled and learnt a lot. It was a productive and enjoyable day all round.”
Beanibazar: 2018 Birmingham Veterans Cup Winners Player managers: Emdad Rahman, Saim Hussain and Afazul Hoque Shumon Rahman – Ruhul Alam – Abdal Ahmed – Imdadul Haque – Akbal Ahmed – Khalid Ahmed – Abdul Wadud – Abdul Wahid – Jahangir Salam – Abul Hussain
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