Coming through the hard way -- via the Mini Rovers -- the Mumbai railwaymen struck through mid-fielder Shanta Kumar Panicker in the 50th minute to set Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), Bangalore, an uphill task against Vasco (Goa), eliminated by the afternoon's result.

ITI, needing to win by a four-goal margin, managed just a 2-2 draw in an incident-filled match that saw Vasco's Nigerian mid-fielder Tony Okafor sent off for abusing by referee Michael Andrews. The Nigerian decried the decision, saying that a verbal altercation between rival players received biased treatment by the official.

Central now find themselves in Group B along with Iranian Club (Dubai) and FC Kochin while qualifiers from Group X, State Bank of Travancore (SBT) will faceChurchill Brothers (Goa) and Mahindras in Group C. Quarter-final league action commences on Wednesday.

Central, feeling the strain of a long campaign and the discomfort of playing in the afternoon heat for the first time in the pre-quarters, were a trifle lethargic in the first half.

After Shanta Kumar found the net with a neat header from Asif Jamal's cross five minutes after the break, the Railway side appeared to do no more, nor less, than they needed to.

The Calcutta side, viewed with circumspection by Central coach Irenio Vaz before the match, looked good enough to spring an upset in the first session and once again the Mumbai side must salute goalkeeper Raghuveer Khanolkar.

The custodian kept Tarak Dutta at bay with a confident collection then did an encore to thwart Prabodh Das Sharma nearing half-time.

Came the goal, the match deteriorated to a stalemate and CPT seemed little interested in salvaging their first point after two earlier defeats.

Vasco, playing for pride, after a 0-4humilation at the hands of Central Railway on Saturday punished a goal-hungry ITI for early prodigality.

Gregory Clark blasted home a penalty in the 38th minute after wing-back Rishi Kapoor handled the ball but ITI live-wire Sudharkar made it 1-1 in the 37th.

The diminutive striker headed home fluently from a cross by substitute Peter Mascarenhas but Vasco regained the lead after the interval.

Louis Nickson scored in the 62nd minute, driving home Clark's cross from the left, giving ITI goalkeeper Balaji no chance and virtually endorsing Central's passage into the next round.

But Vasco, who could have done with a victory to sooth the pains of a torrid Saturday evening, conceded a penalty after Okafor was shown two yellows.

`Handball' by Nickson brooked the award and Ravi Babu beat 'keeper Richard Sanches in the 75th minute with a low shot to the right of goal.

CHATHUNNI IS DEMPO COACH: TK Chathunni, dumped by National League champions Mohun Bagan, will guide Dempo until year 2000. The Goanside's manager Custodio Almeida informed that Chatunni had joined the club on November 5, replacing Brazilian Francis Gonsalves.

Dempo's playing ranks will also undergo significant change. Star mid-fielder Sanaton Singh moves in from Goan rivals Salgaocar, while striker Marcus Carvalho, midfielder Tejinder Singh and wing-back Surmani Singh have left Churchill Brothers, runners-up in the first Goa professional league recently.

Dempo finished third in the league claimed by Salgaocar.

IRANIANS ARRIVE: Iranian Sports and Cultural Club, a United Arab Emirates-based side arrived in the city today.

The club from Dubai have been seeded directly into the quarter-final league and include four World Cuppers who did duty at France 98.

The club, however, cannot participate in the UAE National League but feature prominently in the expatriate league in that country according to chief delegate Karim Sobhani. Coach Majid Salimpour, a former mid-fielder, served Iran at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

TheWorld Cuppers in the squad are: Masoud Estili, Abbas Sarkhab (both strikers), Naeem Sadavi Sad (mid-fielder) and Mohammadali Piravani (defender).