Salgaocar struggle to down Punjab Police; JCT hold ITI

In what was a dismal start for fancied sides, Goa's Salgaocar had to quell a still challenge from Punjab Police before prevailing 1-0 while another strong contender, Indian Telephone Industries was held to a goalless draw by JCT in quarter-final league matches of the Durand Cup football Tournament in Delhi on Wednesday.

A superior side on paper, with several quality players like Sunday Seah, Bruno Coutinho, Alvito D'Cunha and Franky Baretto in their ranks, Salgaocar lacked cohesion and sting in attack today. The poor showing of the generally free-flowing Goans against the Punjab cops in their inaugural Group "B" quarter-final match was also in sharp contrast to their brilliant performance in the National Football League, when they had beaten a team like East Bengal by a 4-0 margin.

In fact, Salgaocar, who had beaten the policemen 2-0 when they met in the NFL match in Goa, had to wait till the 79th minute of play to get the all-important goal. It came as the result of a combined move, which was completed by left winger Alex Ambrose.

In a Group 'A' league match, JCT, trained by national coach Sukhwinder Singh but languishing low in the NFL table, played their hearts out today and largely dictatated terms against their tough opponents. They would have won by two goals had the ITI defenders not brought off goalline saves midway into the second session.

ITI had beaten JCT 1-0 when the teams met in the National Football League match at Bangalore.

114th Durand Cup 2002 - the complete coverage
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