ITI hold Bagan, stay unbeaten

Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan were held to a goalless draw by Indian Telephone Industries in their fifth round National Football League match in Bangalore on Monday.

Twice champions and title contenders, Bagan were looking for a win to keep their morale high after a humiliating 1-3 defeat at the hands of debutants Hindustan Aeronautics last week, but failed to rise to the occasion.

The telephonemen, flying high after a 2-0 win over F C Kochin, kept their no-loss record clean. Both teams secured one point each from this encounter.

Bagan, runners-up in the last edition, now have eight points, while ITI have seven.

The match failed to generate much interest as both teams were found wanting in finishing.

In the second minute of the second half, Bagan's Brazilian import Jose Ramirez Barreto's weak shot was stopped by ITI goalie Balaji, who did a fine job under the bar.

Balaji also deflected a shot by Rishi Kapoor in the 17th minute after the breather.

In the dying minutes, Bagan skipper Debjit Ghosh made a splendid save as he headed out a powerful shot by Andrew Lewis who was on target after Kenneth Onu's shot hit the goal post and deflected to Lewis.

A minute later, Bagan's Rishi Kapoor deflected a Raghuveer Singh shot at the goal-line.

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