PANAJI / VASCO: Goan giants Dempo Sports Club and Churchill Brothers moved into the last four of 32rd Federation Cup football tournament despite drawing their last league matches on Saturday.
In the semi-finals, Dempo will square off against either Goan rivals Salgaocar SC or Kolkata powerhouse Mohun Bagan who play their last league match in Cuttack on Sunday. Salgaocar need only a draw to go through as they are tied at the top of Group D with Bagan having secured four points each.
Churchill face the formidable challenge of East Bengal in the other semi-final. East Bengal edged past Pune FC by a solitary goal at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack to advance through Group A winning all three league matches. Cuttack will host the semi-final on September 29 while Dempo will play the second semi-final on September 30, Dempo manager Mr Custodio Almeida informed The Navhind Times from Ludhiana.
The I-League champions were held to a goalless draw by JCT at the Guru Nanak stadium in Ludhiana but topped Group C with seven points to advance. ONGC beat AIFF XI 2-1 to take the second spot with six points.
JCT, playing in front of their home crowd, avoided the humiliation of drawing a blank in the premier football tournament after salvaging a single point from the draw. With nothing to lose, JCT combined better to thwart the attacks by the in-form forward line of Dempo.
Churchill were tied with Chirag United in Group B with five points each but advanced with a superior goal difference as both were locked in a goalless draw at Tilak Stadium, Vasco on Saturday. Chirag went all out for a win from the start and raided Churchill fort on numerous occasions. On the other hand, Koko Sakibo and Odafe Onyeka Okolie tried hard to penetrate the deep defence of Chirag but failed to get any foothold.
After change of ends, Chirag pressed hard and forced at least five corners but the Churchill defenders Rowilson Rodrigues, Robert Lalthlamvana and Ravanan Dharmaraj held their fort tight.
In the 54th minute, Jerry Zirsanga’s power-packed shot was fisted over by Churchill keeper Lalit Thapa. Then in the 67th minute, Josimar Da Silva Martins’ header went to Gouranga Biswas who could have saved the day for Chirag but missed to put the ball behind an out of place Thapa.
During the extra time, after a fine build-up between Denson Devadas, Josimar and substitute Elijah Junior Obagbemiro blasted over from close.
Earlier in the same group, Sesa Football Academy and Viva Kerala too played out goalless draw at the same venue. Sesa and Viva ended on two points each.
In Cuttack, East Bengal continued their undefeated streak with a 1-0 win over Pune FC. Former JCT midfielder Penn Orji netted the winner for the Kolkata side in the 67th minute. Pune on the other hand, had their chances but lacked finishing and could only muster three points in three matches.
In the other Group A encounter of the day, Air India spilt points with HAL after a goalless draw. HAL finished second with four points, while Airmen remained last in the standing with one point.
In Group C, ONGC Mumbai pipped AIFF XI 2-1. Striker Sandeep Sangha gave ONGC the lead in the 21st minute while Kailah Patel found the target immediately into the second half, to make it 2-0 for the Mumbai outfit. Eleven minutes later, Jeje Lal Pekhlua of AIFF XI struck to reduce the margin.
