The exciting draw of the two hockey heavyweights however did not help their cause. Rather it opened the door for leaders Usha Krira Chakra to sniff a maiden League triumph.

The result of the crucial Super Five match not only dented Abahani's hopes of completing a hattrick of League titles but also threw Mohammedan out of the race with two more rounds to go.

Usha now need a win from their last two games against Abahani and Mohammedan to secure their first crown. Abahani, on 26 points, now can only hope that Mohammedan does them a favour tomorrow and defeat Usha in order to close the gap before their final Super League match with the table leaders.

But Monday was a disaster for both Dhaka giants. Not only were both teams left mentally scarred but also physically abused in an after-match free-for-all.

The ugly after the match episode unfolded when the players were walking off the pitch after a lively 70-minute battle.

First there was a fistfight between two Abahani teammates -- Rafiqunnabi Nakib and striker Russel Mahmud Jimmy. It prompted a group of unruly Mohammedan fans to invade the field and start hurling abuse at the Sky Blue players. Abahani winger Sheikh Ramij was so incensed that he lashed out at Mohammedan's poor Shamsuddin Tuhin with his stick. And then all hell broke loose with Black and White players retaliating with sticks and fists.

Police however watched from the sidelines while everybody inside the ground was getting bruised in a nearly 20-might spell of chaos and madness.

But apart from that incident the game itself was action-packed.

Mohammedan, who lost their first-leg match to Abahani 1-0 last week, opened the scoring through Ashraful Islam Shishu after nine minutes when he flicked home a free-hit by defender Chayan.

Seven minutes later, Shishu grabbed a second. After Prince who dodged past Abahani's Rajib and Faruque The Mohammedan player found the target with a powerful angular hit past Abahani custodian Bappi.

Abahani pressed hard but their Malaysian recruit Kuhan Shanmuganathan failed to score from two penalty-corners immediately after the breather.

Prakash Calke also wasted a chance early in the second half when the Indian forward failed to control a pass by Shamim Reza.

However, the Dhanmondi side came back in the 44th minute when Prakash and Titu combined from a penalty-corner to set up Kuhan. The Malaysian national captain, making his Dhaka debut, dragged the ball into the left corner of Shakil, giving the Mohammedan goaltender no chance to move.

Shamim then equalised in the 55th minute when the forward pushed home after getting the ball from Jimmy, who had raced past the whole opposition defence down the left flank.

Mohammedan had a golden chance to seal victory and stay in contention but Shishu put a chance wide in the dying moments after Prince fed him unmarked in the danger zone.