MUMBAI: Mahindra United bowed out of professional football in style by defeating JCT 2-1 in their concluding I-League encounter at the Cooperage ground on Thursday.

First half goals from medio Sukhwinder Singh (33rd minute) and winger Paresh Shivalkar (43rd) gave the Mumbai outfit, which will be disbanded at the end of their league engagements by its management, a 2-0 advantage at half time. JCT tried to come back into the contest with an early strike in the second half (48th minute) through Henry Ezeh but Mahindra players showed sufficient enthusiasm to keep them at bay in the remainder of the match.
The victory boosted Mahindra to the third place in the league standings with 41 points and they would remain there if Churchill Brothers are unable to take a point from their concluding tie on Friday against Mumbai’s Air India. JCT were sixth in the standings with 32 points.
Mahindra and JCT took a long time to get into the groove under the hot and sultry conditions. The local outfit jumped to a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute when Sukhwinder’s left-footer landed at the far corner of the net off a pass from Shivalkar.
Mahindra widened their lead when Shivalkar managed to chip the ball over rival custodian Karanjit Singh off a pass from the right. Mahindra citadel fell in the third minute after resumption when Ezeh, left unmarked inside the box, headed in a corner kick from the right.
After the match, Mahindra coach David Booth hit out at the All India Football Federation’s policy of allowing rival clubs to poach players even when the league is on and wanted severe penalties to be put in place to stop this practice. “The last five to six weeks have been difficult. We allowed the players (after they had been told of the decision to shut down the club) to secure their future by negotiating with other clubs,” the Englishman said.
Viva hold E Bengal
Meanwhile, East Bengal found the going tough on their home ground at Howrah Stadium as Viva Kerala held them to a 1-1 draw in their final I-League match on Thursday.
Bhaichung Bhutia played about 60 minutes of the match after being substituted in the 30th minute in place of Budhiram Tudu, who scored the equaliser for East Bengal. Viva Kerala earlier took the lead through CS Sabeeth in the 10th minute from Noushad’s flag-kick. Sabeeth brilliantly nodded the ball into the net.
But Budhiram Tudu scored from a rebound showing brilliant anticipation in a goalmouth melee in the 17th minute. The agile Tudu’s confidence soared high but only to see him replaced 11 minutes later.