Calcutta: United SC held fancied Dempo SC to a goalless draw in their I-League encounter at the Barasat Stadium on Saturday. The one point from the match took United SC’s tally to 22 points from 20 games and will help them ward off relegation fears for the moment. They will need at least four points from their next couple of games, provided there are no other upsets, to stay afloat.
Dempo, who are currently placed fourth in the standings (27 points from 19 matches), are not in the running for the title. As coach Armando Colaco put it, their focus is the AFC Cup, where they are top of group E with six points from two games. United coach Subrata Bhattacharya was excited at having managed to grab a point. “I’m very happy with the fighting quality shown by our players. This will prove to be a crucial point for us,” he said.
TEAMS
United SC: Rabikanta Singh, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, Louis Nigi Ebami, Dulal Biswas, R. Dhanarajan, Snehasish Chakraborty (Sasthi Duley, 92min), Gouranga Dutta (Lalmalswama Hmar, 80), Denson Devadas (Hardeep Singh, 82), Subair Murithala Ali, Bidemi Daniel Ayeni, Sankar Oraon.
Dempo SC: Abhijit Mondal, John Dias, Sameer Naik, Joseph Valeriano Rebello, Mahesh Gawli, Nascimento Silveira, Climax Lawrence, Anthony Pereira, Clifford Miranda (Nicolas Borges, 60), Ranty Martins, Beto (Peter Carvalho, 54).
Referee: Dinesh Nair (Guj.).
MoM: Denson Devadas.