Defending champions Bashundhara Kings began their Federation Cup campaign on a winning note despite having to toil for a 1-0 victory against Brothers Union in the opening match of the tournament at the Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium in Cumilla on Tuesday.

Defender Topu Barman separated the sides in the 69th minute with a decisive header, thanks to a poor clearance from Brothers Union defender Sushanta Tripura on the uneven ground, which was the main talking point instead of the performance of the teams.

Though the domestic season was deferred by a few weeks owing to unprepared grounds, the Cumilla venue was not ready to host the opening match as a cricket pitch was removed from the venue on Monday. The ground caused trouble for both sides in controling, passing and playing buildup game all through the match.

Even though Bashundhara Kings had the last laugh, they struggled despite coming into the match on the back of a 7-0 win over Chittagong Abahani in a Bangladesh Premier League encounter on Friday.

Brothers Union were denied by the woodwork in the 34th minute when Gambian forward Zakaria Darboe saw his free-kick come off the crossbar while their goalkeeper Pappu Hossain made a string of saves either side of the break.

Pappu, however, could not stop a close-range header from Topu, who nodded home after Brothers defender Sushanta failed to clear a cross from Brazilian forward Miguel Ferreira.

In the day's other match of Group A, Bangladesh Police and Fortis FC played out a goalless draw at the Rofique Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh.