The Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday was given a fresh look with the decoration of colourful flags, balloons and festoons as the season-opening Club Cup hockey tournament returned to the blue turf after a nearly two-and-a-half-year hiatus. 

In the day's first match, title contenders Abahani produced a flying start with an emphatic 5-1 win over Ajax SC. Ashraful Islam struck a brace while Mehdi Hasan, Obaidul Hasan Joy and Forhad Ahmed Situl netted one goal apiece for Abahani, and for the losing side, Subrata helped reduce the margin.

The upbeat rhythms from the band at the venue added to the ambiance of the contest, but both sides' performances lacked entertainment, and the players' lack of fitness prevented them from showcasing anything that would captivate spectators in the gallery.

On the back of three-week preparation, star-studded Abahani predictably enjoyed the upper-hand throughout the game, but they also lacked pace and aggression in their performance. The Sky Blues, donning a special yellow jersey printed with Bengali letters, failed to snatch penalty corners in the first quarters while their forwards were too late to connect to some fierce hits coming from the flanks, and that too in front of an almost open net.

The players from both sides struggled to control the ball and convert penalty corners on several occasions. Nevertheless, both sides were seemingly happy on having returned to competitive action following a long gap.

"We always enjoy the game and it is like Eid day if we can play every day, but it feels really bad when we come to play after a long time," Abahani midfielder Nayeem Uddin said after the match.

"You all know we came back to the ground after 27 months, so there has been a problem with the fitness of the players. But things could have been better if it would have been arranged plan-wise," he added.

Abahani coach Hedayetul Islam Razib echoed a similar sentiment, highlighting the fitness issue.

"The missing thing in the game was the fitness of the players, so there was no stick-work and quick passing from the players. It happened because of having no competitive matches for a long time," said Razib, adding that the players also struggled to finish from the goalmouth.

"You won't get the benefit despite having a lot of the national players in the squad because they also suffered problems for not playing for a long time," said the former national defender.

In the day's second game, defending champions Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club beat Police 2-0.