East Bengal holds JCT

By Our Sports Reporter

KOLKATA, MARCH 28. Kingfisher East Bengal was halted its tracks by an unassuming JCT Mills, Phagwara which drew the former 2-2 in the 16th round National Football League match here at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday.

JCT, languishing in the bottom of the league table so far, somewhat redeemed its chances of staying afloat in the tournament with a late resurgence that saw the leader struggling to avert a defeat at its own ground. East Bengal now has 35 points from its 16 matches and still maintains its perch on the top. JCT remained at the bottom of the 12-team table with 11 points.

The first session, which saw the home team stamping its authority with a 1-0 lead, hardly gave the indication of the things to come following the breather. The second session saw three goals coming as JCT scored twice in a space of two minutes through substitute Sameer and Sukhjeet Singh to move up 2-1 before Omolaja Olalekan restored parity for the home side.

Striker Dipendu Biswas scored a penalty awarded in the 10th minute taking East Bengal ahead as JCT appeared like a team far below its potency.

The absence of the regulars like Hardeep Sangha and Hardeep Saini, both of whom have been down with injuries, made the JCT midfield look mediocre. Though captain Ram Pal and Harinder Singh tried to speed up the proceedings their efforts seemed to lack the edge that could set the forwards with chances in the opposition area. The halves on the two flanks Jaswinder Singh and Jaswant Singh failed to mobilise the wings.

East Bengal stopper backs - Ghanians Suley Musah and Jackson Agaygpong - stood like a wall blocking all JCT attacks. On the other hand, the home team was given a lot of liberty by a sluggish JCT defence, which repeatedly let Biswas and the two attacking medios - Nigerian Olalekan and Dipankar Roy - sneak into the penalty area. It was the alacrity of Arvind Kumar under the bar that saved JCT's blushes in the first session.

JCT coach Parminder Singh, substituting Sukhvinder Singh who is busy with national duties, understood his team's midfield woes and replaced Jaswinder with Sameer (in the 44th minute) and Jaswant with Jaspreet Singh (in the 56th minute).

Jaspreet's induction livened the left flank in the second session and the equaliser came in the 57th minute when Sameer directed home a cross to bring JCT into reckoning. Hardly had the home team absorbed the shock, the Punjab team went up by a goal as forward Sukhjeet made no errors with his header in the 58th minute.

The host team pressed hard to wriggle out of the crisis. With JCT packing its defence, East Bengal saw most its moves falling flat. However, in the 67th minute Omolaja Olalekan defeated the opposition ploy by finishing a long-ranger from outside the box to fetch the equaliser for East Bengal.

- Our Sports Reporter

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