JCT, Salgaocar in goalless draw

Former champions Jagajit Cotton and Textile Mills, Phagwara, and Salagocar, Goa, played out a goalless draw in a sixth National Football League match, at the Nehru stadium, in Goa, on Sunday.

It was the second successive draw for JCT from three matches, while Salgaocar, with one win and a draw, have four points from as many matches.

In another match, former champions Mohun Bagan were also held to a goalless draw by F C Kochin at Kochi.

JCT dominated the first half while it was Salgaocar all the way in the second. JCT sounded the first warning in the tenth minute, when a long ranger from medio Sumeer grazed the post and went out. They made inroads mostly from the left, with Hardip Sangha threatening the Salgaocar defence with long crosses. Once his powerful shot was well saved by 'keeper Kalyan Choubey, who, however, had to leave the field five minutes before the interval due to a muscle pull.

JCT maintained the pressure and six minutes before half-time almost succeeded in taking the lead but an alert Choubey rose to the occasion and did well to punch out a Sangha shot.

Salgaocar were a pale shadow of themselves in the first half as they failed to function as a team. Their midfield in particular gave a lot of poorly directed passes, which helped JCT probe more often into their half. The only chance they had was in the dying minutes of the first half, when an Alvito D'Cunha left-footer from inside the box was played to safety for a corner by 'keeper Arvind Kumar.

In the second session, however, the Goa team were more methodical but their strikers ran out of ideas when ideally placed.

National Football League - the complete coverage