Bahrain: Mohammed Al Rumaihi was the man of the moment as he helped Al Hidd clinch the Bahrain Bapco Super Cup after defeating Muharraq 1-0 at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town last night.
Al Rumaihi scored the only goal of the match in the second half.
This was the first trophy of the season for Al Hidd, who were last season’s Bahrain first division football league champions. Last night’s win takes their tally to five trophies in the past two seasons.
Muharraq’s coach Rodion Gacanin depended on Sayed Mohammed Jaffar in goal and Ali Ghaleb, Hussain Baba, Samuel Orago and Waleed Al Hayam in defence. Abdulwahab Ali and Mahdy Abdellatif led the midfield battles alongside Jamal Rashed and Mahmoud Ringo while Mahmod Al Mowas and Ismail Abdellatif played in attack.
Al Hidd’s Isa Al Saadoon fielded Abbas Ahmed in goal with four defenders in front of him, namely Sayed Mohammed Adnan, Ibrahim Al Obaidly, Hamad Faisal and Rashed Al Hooty.
In midfield, Al Saadoon depended on Mohammed Al Daouda, Isa Mesbah, Orak,Owshi and Ereton, with Mohammed Al Rumaihi as the lone striker.
The first half was slow paced as both coaches were managing their first official games for the teams.
Muharraq seemed to have more possession during the first half however with no real threat on goal while Al Hidd maintained a strong defensive line.
With the start of the second half Al Hidd seemed more comfortable with keeping possession of the ball, thus forcing Muharraq’s players to widen their defence in an effort to regain the ball.
Goal
The 60th minute of the game saw Al Rumaihi score the all-important goal.
Al Hidd had cleverly passed the ball around creating spaces for their attackers. Nigerian striker Orok managed a wonderful low-cross towards Al Rumaihi who did not fail to put it in the back of the net.
One minute later, Al Hidd had the chance to double the scoreline after a miss pass from Muharraq defender Baba reached Al Rumaihi who was in a one-on-one position with Muharraq goalkeeper Jaffar. However, Rumaihi’s effort went wide of the target.
Throughout the match, Muharraq’s coach, Gacanin seemed furious at the referree’s decisions.
In the 75th minute, Muharraq captain Mohammed Salmeen was brought down in the penalty box. However, the referee refused to award him a penalty, much to the chagrin of coach Gacanin and the fans.
Towards the dying minutes of the game, Muharraq’s frantic efforts to score the leveller bore no fruit and Al Hidd wisely managed the final minutes to their favour.