Relegation is always a bitter, wretched experience. That much is obvious.
Yet not all demotions are created equal. Bani Yas learned this in last night’s must-win basement clash against Emirates Club, as hopes of extending an eight-year stay in the Arabian Gulf League were wrenched from their grasp less than 15 minutes since hope abounded of a miraculous redemption.
Irrepressible Martinique winger Harry Novillo struck a brace and set-up two more – one via a Zinedine Zidane-esque pirouette – to earn a 4-2 lead on 80 minutes. This was to be critically, painfully undone by poor positioning from rookie goalkeeper Sultan Musabah on substitute Ahmed Malalla’s 25-yard pot shot and a crushing flick off predatory Argentine hit man Sebastian Saez’s forehead deep into injury time.
Allied with further draws for Ittihad Kalba and Dibba Al Fujairah, the collapse was catastrophic.
“We tried too much not to fall into First Division,” said club legend and coach Abdulwahab Abdulqadir, whose shares no blame after falling short in his four-month rescue mission. “But the actual descent was from the start of this season.
“The foreigners of Emirates Club made the difference. They played very well, even though our team was very good.”
The stalemate does little for the Falcons’ hopes of beating the drop.
They must now beat Al Nasr – something they’ve managed just once in their last 11 meetings – during May 13’s final round and hope for the best. Coach Ivan Hasek remained optimistic, despite an unpropitious situation.
He said: “We were dead, but now we come back. It is just a small one [chance] and nothing is in our hands.
“But we need to fight for the next game against Al Nasr.”
Bani’s statistics are damning for 2016/17. They have lost 16 times, won just three, conceded a league-high 68 goals, churned all but one of their foreign quartet in the winter transfer market and gone through three coaches.
These failings were on show when ungainly Swedish forward Osman Sow tapped in for Emirates from close range early on. Novillo – a rare example of a successful addition since a historic run to the 2012 AFC Champions League’s knockouts – first struck an untraceable free-kick in reply, before memorably teeing up French powerhouse Jean-Philippe Mendy’s header.
Al Wahda-bound Moroccan loanee Mourad Batna’s flimsy volley then went through Musabah for an 11th AGL goal and the leveller.
Novillo soon came to the fore again after the interval, forcing Saez to nod into his own goal and moving onto an excellent 10 strikes in 12 games with a sharp, low finish.
This should have been enough to keep Bani in the mix.
But systemic failings which have kept the club bottom of the table for so long could not be suppressed. Malalla’s goal heightened tensions, Saez’s header sending them crashing into the FDL.
Round 25 fixtures/results