Rejuvenated Mahindras trounce Dempo, Hardeep helps JCT brace up
AGENCIES

MARGAO, JAN 2: Mahindra and Mahindra (Mumbai) trounced Dempo Sports Club (Goa) 7-1 and registered their first win in the Coca-Cola National Football League match at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda.

Mahindra fired in four goals in the opening session and struck three more goals in the second half through striker Mohammed Najeeb (three in the fourth, 40th, 43rd minutes), Shashi Raza (two in the 57th, 70th minutes), Abbas Ali Rizvi (62nd) and Ramesh Razak (42nd).

Dempo redunced the margin in the 83rd minute off a spot kick awarded to them through defender Seied Ahamadi.

Mahindras, with this win, increased their point tally to six points from five outings while Dempo remained on same two points from equal number of matches.

JCT win
CALCUTTA: JCT Phagwara defeated Manaksia Tollygunge Agragami by a brace at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium. The goals came in each half through their sturdy left winger Hardeep Gill.

Injury problems hamper Mohun Bagan as they take on East Bengal in CalcuttaDerby
CALCUTTA, JAN 2: In their first encounter this millennium, soccer giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan stand evenly poised when they clash at Salt Lake Stadium on Monday.

Neither has done well so far and share the fourth place with eight points from four matches. While East Bengal had earlier lost to city-mate Tollygunge Agragami and drew with JCT, Bagan drew with BSF and lost to JCT.

Two of Mohun Bagan's dependable backs Nigerian Omollo and Debojit Ghosh would not take the field. Also staying away would be new recruit, Brazilian striker Jose Barretto, who would also not be able to take the field as his clearence from the Brazilian federation has not come so far.

Even battle on cards
MARGAO: Goa professional league champions Churchill Brothers and defending champions Salgaocar Sports Club would battle it out for supremacy at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda on Monday.

Churchill Brothers have had a smooth run so far, comfortably winning all their four matches. They outplayed Dempo5-0, beat Mahindras 2-0, F C Kochi 2-0 and ITI 2-1 and are leading the table with 12 points.

Salgacar beat JCT 1-0, State Bank of Travancore (SBT) 1-0 and drew against ITI and Dempo goaless and are on third place with eight points below Tollygani Agragami who have 10 points.

Both the teams have played each other four times this season Salgaocar winning twice and one drawn.

ITI look to reverse trend
BANGALORE: Local hope Indian Telephone Industries go into Monday's match against SBT (Trivandrum) with two prominent members missing from their ranks.Khogen Singh, the live-wire in their mid-field, will sit out because of injury, and he will find company in the form of captain Sunil Kumar, who has received two yellow cards.

Both Khogen and Sunil Kumar have played solidly in their four matches, and their absence is likely to seriously hamper ITI's gameplan.

ITI have had two losses and two draws, but their other three matches have been against superior opposition. They lost 1-3 to East Bengal and1-2 to Churchill Brothers, and drew goalless with Mahindras and Salgaocar.

Kochin confident
KOCHI: With their victory against State Bank of Travancore in their last game, Hi-Power FC Kochin will be riding high on confidence when they take on Border Security Force.

Kochin's narrow victory over SBT, Kerala's other representative in the NFL, has given them much-needed fillip. They are seventh with five points from one win, two draws and one defeat at the end of the fourth round.

One slot behind them are BSF who have three points from encounters played at their home turf, Ludhiana. The victory against Dempo, Goa is their only bright show. They lost three other matches, all to Calcutta teams Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Tollygunge Agragami, by slim margins.

Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.