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A first half strike from Holicharan Narzary gave Dempo SC a 1-0 win over Mohun Bagan AC in a round 15 clash of the I-League at the Saltlake Stadium on Saturday evening in Kolkata. The result saw Dempo jump into seventh place while Mohun Bagan suffered their fifth defeat of this campaign and dropped into tenth spot.
The first real talking point of the game came in the tenth minute when Dempo’s India international Narayan Das appeared to have handled Christopher Chizoba’s cross in the box but the referee didn’t award the home side a penalty. Mohun Bagan had plenty of possession but their only real chance came from a set-piece as Denson Devadas’ freekick found Echezona Anyichie unmarked inside the box but the Nigerian defender couldn’t hit the target.
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Dempo’s young side slowly started getting into the game and looked dangerous on counter attacks. Mohun Bagan keeper Sandip Nandy almost gifted Dempo a goal when his clearance fell to Alwyn George but the youngster’s effort was acrobatically cleared by Echezona. The visitors went infront when a cross from Narayan found its way to Holicharan after some fine work by an unmarked Alywn and Holicharan easily slotted past Nandy as Mohun Bagan were punished for poor marking.
The Mariners tried to respond in the remainder of the first half but it was Dempo who ended the half stronger and could have doubled the advantage had their final pass been better.
Karim Bencherifa introduced C.S. Sabeeth and Pankaj Moula at the start of the second half but the green-and-maroon brigade struggled to create clear cut chances. There were too many misspasses from the hosts while the youngsters of Dempo looked threatening on the counter attacks.
Mohun Bagan’s best chances came midway through the second period when some fine interplay between Odafe and Katsumi Yusa set-up Sabeeth but he delayed his shot and it was blocked. Minutes later Odafe’s header hit the woodwork after a Manish Bhargav cross as the home side finally built some momentum. The service for Odafe was much better but the Nigerian was the only one looking dangerous inside the box and saw another attempt saved by Laxmikant Kattimani. The Mariners dominated the final stages but just couldn’t find the equaliser as their finishing wasn’t clinical while Dempo defended solidly.
The Goan side also wasted a couple of opportunities to score their second and even had Jewel Raja sent off in stoppage time but they held on for only their third win of this I-League campaign.
