Having taken the lead in the first half, Railways soaked up spells of intense pressure from Assam, for whom a draw would have been enough to progress. Before the match began, Assam and Railways had a win each against Delhi, and identical goal difference, with Assam ahead on goals scored.
Both teams played attractive, on-the-carpet football, the only difference being their respective areas of attack. Railways moved the ball more centrally, with its midfielders arranged in a narrow diamond, while Assam’s more orthodox 4-4-2 facilitated greater use of the wings, particularly the skilful F. Wary who buzzed with menace down the left.
Railways took the lead in the 39th minute through a clever bit of play from midfielder Nalandar Chakravarthy, who cut in from the right flank.
He drew two defenders towards his run, and threaded the ball to the now unmarked striker Amrinder Singh, who slotted calmly past goalkeeper Bilfang Narzary with his left foot.
Assam began the second half with palpable urgency, and twice came close to equalising, denied both times by alert Railways defending. First, left-back Suvendu Hui cleared over his own crossbar, facing the danger of scoring an own goal as he chased a low cross from Wary who had twisted and turned past two Railways players to infiltrate the box.
Minutes later, centre-half Suresh Das timed to perfection a last-ditch sliding tackle on Assam striker Durga Boro, bearing down on goal in pursuit of a long ball from Narzary.
In control The Railways midfield took control after that, particularly the deep-lying Rajesh whose astute positioning cut short a number of Assam moves.
In addition, Railways disrupted Assam’s rhythm with time-wasting tactics, exaggerating mild knocks, taking time over substitutions, and generally doing what teams do to protect a slender lead.
The result: Railways 1 (Amrinder Singh 39) bt Assam 0.
Friday’s match: Sikkim v Manipur (Cluster VI), 4 p.m.