Down by a goal, Dempo rallied superbly in the second half to fashion a 4-1 victory over Air-India in the 10th ONGC National Football League, at the Duler ground, in Mapusa, Goa, on Sunday.

For Dempo, Isfaq Ahmed scored a brace, while Roberto Silva and Ranty Martins scored a goal each.

For the airmen, Bashir Abbas reduced the margin.

Play, which was confined to midfield initially, saw Air-India taking the lead in the 26th minute, when Bashir Abbas fired home a pass from Succoro Velho.

Dempo regrouped and found the equaliser in the 33^rd minute when Isfaq Ahmed scored off a pass by Roberto Silva.

The Goan team, which had better scoring chances in the first half, were denied at least two goals by Air-India 'keeper Sunder Rajan, who bought off fine saves off Isfaq Ahmed and Clifford Miranda.

The teams were level 1-1 at half-time.

The change of ends saw Dempo dictating terms to the Mumbai league champions. They took the lead in the 76th minute through a self goal after defender Santosh Kholi shot into his own net while clearing the ball after Isfaq Ahmed took a shot at goal.

The goal galvanised Dempo and Roberto Silva increased the lead four minutes later off a pass by Ranty Martins.

Martins, who was declared the man-of-the-match, acounted for the other goal.

The win took Dempo's tally to 16 points from 11 matches while Air-India, who suffered their fifth loss, remained on 13 points from 11 matches.