The newly formed professional side are now a stroke away from a historic triumph after Nigerian striker Emeka Achilefu struck the only goal in the second half of the WIFA Gulf Oil Super Division league match at the Cooperage.

With two matches to go and 32 points in the kitty, the debutante professional club can seal the title with a win over Bank of India in their next match.

Bank of India (BoI), playing the entire second half with a man short, escaped with a point from a goalless draw against Union Bank of India (UBI) in the other match played today.

UBI are stranded in mid-table but BoI will rue the loss of a point that will prove crucial in a scramble for the top three positions that include Air-India, Central Railway and Mahindras besides BMFC.

But on the other hand, BoI must thank theirlucky stars for the point they salvaged. They conceded a penalty on the dot of half-time through a professional foul by defender Shyamal Singha who handled the ball and earned a red card, shown by referee J Ravishankar.

UBI, however, kept up their dubious trend this season by muffing the resultant spot kick -- their fourth such miss of the season. Michael D'Silva, the culprit this time, shooting tamely and wide as the goalkeeper RN Mitra dived the wrong direction.

BMFC were caused some anxiety before scoring what turned out to be the match-winner and it was aided by a touch of individuality by mid-fielder Abdul Khalique.

Beating defenders Richard Noronha and Hassan el Fowad, Khalique presented Emeka Achilefu the simplest of tasks to tap past Suhas Patil in goal.

RCF, battlers to the last, played to their limitations. The policy to defend stoutly and pounce on a counter-attack did not fructify today. The onus was naturally on BMFC to set the pace but first half domination yielded chances only at thefag end.

Emeka volleyed purposefully inside the box in the 40th minute but Patil was untroubled and before the half was through, Abhay Kumar shot wide when ideally placed.

But BMFC were not to be denied as Khalique showed a touch of enterprise. For all their territorial supremacy, however, the next clear chance came in the 88th minute.

Substitute Adel Ansari incredibly failed from point blank range after Manas Thapa relayed an Abhay cross into the box. Ansari shot straight into Patil.

UBI SPURN CHANCES: The red card incident turned things around for UBI. Bank of India's first half ascendancy faded and cracks appeared in their defence. Mitra, so impressive in goal, and stopper Prakash Mehra blundered once each but nothing went right for UBI who failed to capitalise.

There were other glorious chances in the second half, not least when striker Francis Pereira hit the post in the 58th minute and a late flurry that all but resulted in scoring.

Vijay Thapa's left-foot volley from 25 yards outalmost took Mitra by surprise. Then, with seconds remaining, Pereira's headlong dive to Tomar's chip into the box just failed to bear fruit.