JCT hold Mahindra United

Fancied Mahindra United were held to a 1-1 draw by JCT Mills, Phagwara, in their second match of the National Football League at the Cooperage in Bombay on Monday.

JCT went ahead in the 34th minute, when mid-fielder Ram Pal scored off a cross from Hardip Gill, after Gill himself had hit over a Sukhjit Singh back pass five minutes earlier.

However, the equaliser came three minutes after interval when Mahindra United midfielder Habib Adekunle scored off a weak clearance by one of the JCT defenders after Aqueel Ansari had given a good forward pass.

In their opening matches, Mahindra United were beaten by Air India by the odd goal in three while JCT held champions Mohun Bagan 2-2.

Defending champions Mohun Bagan warded off a spirited challenge from Tollygunge Aggragami before beating them 2-1 in the fifth National Football League, in an exciting tussle at the Rabindra Sarovar stadium in Calcutta on Monday.

After conceding a goal midway through the opening session, strikers Santos and R C Prakash struck for the reigning champions in the second half.

The victory was Bagan's first from two matches, having being held by JCT in the opening match of the league.

Spurred by vociferous supporters, Bagan managed to score the match-winner in the nick of time as R C Prakash slammed the ball home from close, just a minute before the long whistle much to the delight of his teammates.

Tollygunge Aggragami, quite predictably, relied on an ultra defensive strategy to counter the formidable Bagan forwardline. The move seemed to pay dividends till Prakash turned tables in the dying minutes.

Tollygunge, who had lost 0-2 to East Bengal in their opening match, fired the first salvo in the 27th minute of the encounter through striker Abdul Latif Seriki and managed to put some pressure on their opponents by unleashing a series of speedy counter attacks.

The goal was the result of a fast counter attack which saw defender Partha Sarathi Dey break through the defence and centre the ball towards Seriki who brilliantly headed the ball in, giving no chance at all to Bagan custodian Hemanta Dora.

Trailing by a solitary goal at the interval, Bagan stepped up the pace of the game after the breather and managed to fetch the equaliser when Brazilian recruit Santos tapped the ball in from close following an attempt by Dulal Biswas.

F C Kochin rallied to hold Vasco, Goa, to a 1-1 draw in a keenly contested match at the Nehru Stadium.

Vasco, who held more of the exchanges shot into the lead in the 19th minute through Rustam Zabirov. F C Kochin fought back in the second half to restore parity in the 74th minute through I M Vijayan.

Vasco, who beat Zee Churchill 1-0 in their earlier match, called the tune and had more scoring opportunities but they were unlucky. Once the woodwork came to the rival's rescue when substitute Daniel Coalco's rasping shot hit the cross bar.

F C Kochin who beat Salgaocar 3-2 earlier, failed to play a cohesive game in the first half but found their rhythm in the second after their keeper was pushed upfront and Dinesh Nair played under the bar. This added more thrust to the attack.