It's that time of the year again when the infamous Kolkata Maidan gets ready to showcase it's best talents on show in the patchy and damp pitches of the Maidan Grounds in the Calcutta Football League. The 120th edition of the historic Calcutta Football League Premier Division A gets underway on Friday with 39 Time Champions East Bengal hosting Tollygunge Agragami in the opener. It is going to be a special occasion for the fans and the club alike as a match would be played for the very first time at the venue under floodlights. East Bengal's Technical Director Subhas Bhowmick has made it clear that the Red and Gold Brigade will take to the field without any foreigner. East Bengal's newest recruit Kassim Aidara has registered himself in the IFA Office hours ago. As per the Indian Football Association (IFA) Rules and Regulations, a player can only feature for the team if he has been registered at least 48 hours prior to kick-off. Mahmoud Al-Amna is deemed to start from the bench and is not expected to take to the field unless necessary. Tollygunge Agragami, on the other hand, has racked up a few impressive names in their roster. They have roped in league veterans like Ashim Biswas, Rakesh Masih, Prohlad Roy and Gautam Kujur. Nigerian forward Daniel Bidemi is also part of the squad. Agragami can cause problems for the defending Champions counting on its experienced side in contrast to East Bengal's fairly young and inexperienced side. Here is all you need to know about the Calcutta Football League 2018 Premier Division - A Opener : Date: August 3, 2018 Match: East Bengal vs Tollygunge Agragami Time: 4:30 PM, Indian Standard Time (IST) Venue: East Bengal Ground, Kolkata Broadcast: Sadhna News Bangla. Live Stream: Sadhna News Bangla's official YouTube Channel will provide Live Streaming. On the go? No Access to High-Speed Internet and Television? We have got you covered. Sportskeeda will provide minute-by-minute updates in its Live Blog. CLICK HERE to catch all the LIVE updates.<doc-sep>KOLKATA: If winning the elusive I-League will be akin to conquering Mt Everest for East Bengal, taking part in the CFL Premier Division A amounts to preparation for Subhas Bhowmick's side to set up base camp.That will be the mindset when eight-time defending champions East Bengal kick off their CFL campaign against Tollygunge Agragami at home on Friday. Bhowmick's assertion after Thursday's training session that there will be no foreigner in his starting line-up made East Bengal's approach clear.East Bengal have so far signed Senegalese midfielder Kassim Aidara and retained Syrian playmaker Mahmoud Al Amna for the local league. However, the club is yet to get clearance from Kassim's former club and current I-League champions Minerva FC, rendering the Senegalese hors de combat for the opening match. Amna, on the other hand, would be on the bench, but the technical director made it clear on match-eve that the Syrian's service will be availed as a substitute only if required. "We are not complacent nor thinking about going into the match as favourites. In a short league, every match is important and that is why our target is to start the tournament with a win. But our ultimate target is to scale Everest," Bhowmick said. "We were close to winning it (I-League) on a few occasions, but failed in the end. We must be prepared to avoid that mistake this time," he added.East Bengal will bank on their youth brigade to get past Tollygunge. Bali Gagandeep, Laldanmawaia and Lalrindika Ralte are expected to carry the team's attacking ambitions and former Mohun Bagan captain Kingshuk Debnath — who joined the red and golds this season — will lend experience to the backline.Tollygunge, however, won't be pushovers. The team, under former East Bengal coach Manoranjan Bhattacharya, has a decent side having roped in a clutch of experienced players like Ashim Biswas, Rakesh Masih , Prohlad Roy and Gautam Kujur. They also have veteran Nigerian forward Daniel Bidemi, armed with the experience of playing in several city-based clubs in the league, including Mohun Bagan. "Facing the defending champions in the opening match is always a massive challenge. Our team is a blend of experience and youth. Hopefully, we'll put up a fight," Manoranjan said.Although Bhowmick is looking beyond defending the CFL title, East Bengal will be eager to extend their record-breaking run in the CFL. It remains to be seen how his young army responds to the task of scaling the first base.<doc-sep>CFL 2018: Ashim Biswas - East Bengal did not want to play in the second half Match commissioner Bikash Mukherjee cited unplayable ground conditions for abandoning the opener between East Bengal and Tollygunge Agragami.... East Bengal’s first game in the 2018 Calcutta Football League (CFL) Premier Division 'A' against Tollygunge Agragami was abandoned on Friday due to incessant rainfall. Only the first 45 minutes of the match was played in which both the sides scored a goal each. Kassim Aidara's strike in the second minute had put East Bengal in front. Former Minerva Punjab striker Lago Dagbo Bei equalised for the visitors in the 30th minute from Daniel Bidemi’s pass. It had started raining 30 minutes prior to the kick-off. As the match progressed the playing surface became unplayable due to waterlogging. In the second half, the referee had a chat with both the captains and decided to abandon the game as he felt the ground was not fit to play. However, former India international and Tollygunge Agragami striker Ashim Biswas expressed his displeasure after the match. He said that his team was ready to continue with the match as they felt that the conditions were worse during the first half and that it had improved after the rain stopped. “We wanted to play in the second half as the rain had stopped. Our captain Gautam Kujur told the referee as well. But the East Bengal captain did not want to continue. We had even proposed that the game be started and if it is unplayable thereafter, the match could then be abandoned," the former Jamshedpur FC forward complained. Match commissioner Bikash Mukherjee said, “The match could have continued under rain or if the ground had remained just wet. But we saw that water had already started accumulating. The ball was coming to a halt whenever a player made a ground pass. The players were not able to dribble as well. Both teams shared their grievances even before the first half was over. Players could have suffered serious injuries if we had continued with the match. So due to unplayable ground conditions, the match was abandoned.” Away team coach Manoranjan Bhattacharya felt that the game should have been stopped much earlier as the ground had started deteriorating during the first half. He said, “I agree that the ball was stopping and the pitch was unplayable. But I have only one question to ask. The conditions were deteriorating since the last 20 minutes of the first half. So why did the commissioner not stop the play at that time? It was raining heavily in that period and the ball was not rolling an inch. But still, the match continued. If any player got injured who would have taken responsibility?” East Bengal technical director Subhash Bhowmick suggested they never protested and on the contrary, it was Tollygunge officials who wanted the referee to stop the match. He said, "It was the Tollygunge officials who first demanded that the game must be stopped. It was finally the referee's decision. I was worried about both the teams as the players could have picked injuries on such a pitch. My captain felt that they will not be able to play in such conditions so he told the referee to stop after half-time." Bhowmick also spoke on his team's performance today. He said, "Overall I am happy with my team's performance. Our wingers need to improve as there was hardly any wing play. Most of these players have never played in this condition, so it was difficult for them to adjust."<doc-sep>
Kolkata giants East Bengal’s first match in the new Calcutta Football League season against Tollygunje Agragami was called off due to poor playing conditions after heavy rainfall in the entire first half rendered the ground unplayable. The referees checked the ball, rolling it on the turf after the half-time break and soon the players headed back towards the dugout in front of a packed East Bengal Ground on Friday evening with the score-line remaining 1-1. The hosts got the lead in as early as the 2nd minute, although it was an own goal. But they were by far the more organised team in the first half with attacks flowing now and then on a rainy evening at the Kolkata Maidan. A set piece movement was the root cause of the first goal where a shot by Kassim Aidara found the back of the net. At the stroke of the half-hour mark, the minnows in one of their few build-ups to the goal, scored by virtue of a brilliant solo effort from Ivory Coast’s Lago Dogbo Bei. It was really a battle of nerves as the condition of the surface compelled many to commit useless fouls. Ralte's brilliant left-footer was brilliantly saved by Subham Roy just at the stroke of half-time. During halftime break, the match commissioner decided that no further play was possible. As said by Tollygunge's forward Ashim Biswas, the East Bengal captain had approached the match officials and said they won’t play the match although the rain had stopped by then. “The East Bengal captains, along with the others were not willing to play the match. Our captain said to the officials that we wanted to play; we requested to at least start the game. But in the end, we were informed that it was the IFA’s decision to call the match off,” said Biswas. He added, "I have played in worse situations than this. The rain stopped in the second half, if the game had to be stopped, it should have been stopped in the first half itself when the rain was heavy. It is a disadvantage for us as the team was playing very well.” On the other hand, East Bengal’s coach Bastab Roy denied any claims of influence on the officials by the East Bengal players. Regarding the matter, he said, “The decision was taken by the IFA. The condition was unplayable, players could have been injured and the ball was not rolling. We shouted from the sidelines in the first half that the conditions were unfavourable but the decision was taken after the first half.” With the first match still not decided, the IFA is yet to take a decision whether any re-match will be played or not. Mohun Bagan will begin their CFL campaign on Saturday evening at their Club Ground.