The 2016 Hero I-League season ended this past weekend as Bengaluru FC emerged champions. All through the season the stars from the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) put on one clinical showing after another and made their presence felt in a big way.The last weekend action witnessed as many as six individual ISL stalwarts get on the scoresheet. Lenny Rodrigues (FC Pune City) and Luciano Sobrosa (FC Goa), Pratesh Shirodkar (Mumbai City FC) and Victorino Fernandes (FC Goa) and Jayesh Rane (Chennaiyin FC) and Sushil Kumar Singh (Atlético de Kolkata), all scored once in their respective I-League side’s weekend wins.Darryl Duffy of FC Goa ended the season second in terms of goals scored after netting 11 times in 13 matches for Salgaocar FC with a goals per game ratio of 0.85 – the best in the league. He also scored a hat-trick in his side’s 3-2 thriller against new entrants DSK Shivajians earlier in the season.Jeje Lalpekhlua (Chennaiyin FC) and Sony Norde (Mumbai City FC) were among others who had a bittersweet season as they narrowly missed out on the league title. The attacking duo scored five goals each for Mohun Bagan and were constantly involved in the Mariners’ attack over the course of the season. Haitian international Norde also scored one of the goals of the season with a trademark free-kick from distance.Sushil Kumar Singh (Atlético de Kolkata) and Sunil Chhetri (Mumbai City FC) also netted five times each for Mumbai FC and Bengaluru FC respectively. Bikash Jairu (FC Pune City) and Rane were among the young Indian players to have a good season and scored thrice and twice for East Bengal and Mumbai FC respectively. Thongkhosiem Haokip, who scored a hat-trick for FC Goa in Hero ISL 2015, also netted twice for Salgaocar.CK Vineeth, who plays for Kerala Blasters FC in the ISL, enjoyed a good season having netted four times for Bengaluru FC but perhaps no one had more impact than a fit-again Eugeneson Lyngdoh (FC Pune City) for the Blues. The talented playmaker made his return to the Bangalore fold at the business end of the season and propelled the southern-club to the top of the table with inspirational performances during the title run-in. His two crucial goals towards the end of the season in successive matches was the turning point of the season as Bengaluru FC breezed past Mohun Bagan in the standings to clinch their second Hero I-League in three years.The ISL stars left a great impression on the 2016 Hero I-League but now a much bigger, much more challenging – that is the third edition of the Hero ISL - awaits them towards the latter part of the year.
