Dempo downs Churchill Bros; meet Mahindra in semis

Ludhiana, Sep 10 (UNI) Playing a mature game, Dempo Sports Club beat Churchill Brothers by 2-0 in an all-Goa quarter-final affair at the 29th Hero Cycles Federation Cup Football Tournament being played at the Guru Nanak Stadium here tonight.

Churchill started the match on apositive note testing Dempo goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal in the fifth minute of the match through Raju's freekick.

However, it was Dempo who stroke the first blood through Ranty Martins Soleye's header in the in the 14th minute.

Three minutes later Churchill Brother suffered a setback as their goalkeeper Vinay Singh was shown a red card for handling the ball outside the dee.

Their second goalkeeper Lalit Thapa then replaced D Raju and was soon in action making a spectacular save by fisting out a Chidi Edeh's spot kick in the 32nd minute.

Dempo scored their second goal in the 37th minute through Chidi Edeh's header from a Clifford Miranda floated cross.

For Churchill Brothers it was a day of misfortune as they wasted plenty of opportunities with Odafe Onyeka Okolie missing two scoring chances, first in the 38th minute when his closed range shot sailed over the bar and then in the 43rd minute when again his shot went wide.

The second half no better for Churchill as Dempo continued to hold an upper hand against their 10-man side, who missed a couple of scoring chances only to witness their Goan counterpart registering a last four berth.

Dempo will now cross swords with Mahindra United in the second semi-final to be played on September 12.

Meanwhile, it will be an all-Kolkata affair in the first semi-final tomorrow when defending champions Mohun Bagan lock horns with East Bengal.

Teams: Dempo SC: Abhijit Mondal, Valeriano Rebello, John Charles Dias, Mahesh Gawil, Sameer Naik, Jerry Zirsanga (73rd, Peter Carvalho), Climax Lawrence, Roberto Mendes Silva, Clifford Miranda (77th, Nicolau Berges), Ranty Martins Soleye, Chidi Edeh.

Churchill Brothers: Vinay Singh, Thokchom Naoba Singh, Gouramangi M Singh, Vinu Jose (39th, N Gobind Singh) , Robert Lalthamla, Chitrasen Chandam Singh, Mashangva Genius Zenith, D Raju (18th, Lalit Thapa), Khemtang, Odafe Onyeka Okolie and Stephen N Mbanyam.

Referee: Rizwan ul Haq (Delhi).

Assistant Referees: Shaji Kurian (Kerala) and T Pradeep Kumar (Tamil Nadu).

Tomorrow's fixture: Semi-final: East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan UNI XC-HS SSC DB2234