Salgaocar dump Dempo, move to second spot

MARGAO: Salgaocar Sports Club stuck to their strengths and tactical approach to break down the rival defence on swift counters as they took on Dempo Sports Club in their I-league clash at the Nehru Stadium, Fatorda on Wednesday. Two first-half strikes was enough to seal the match (2-0) that looked tight until the very end. The win took Salgaocar to the second spot behind leaders Bengaluru FC.
The men in green were disciplined in defence and swift in attack.And though Dempo's build-up was tight and stitched together with neat short-passes, they fell short at the finish. And then there was Karanjit Singh under the Salgaocar bar. The former Indian 'goalkeeper of the year', had a time of his life bring-ing off at least four brilliant saves to frustrate the men in blue, denying them any success whatsoever, whenever they conjured an opportunity.
"We realised it is important to play a waiting game," said chief coach Derrick Pereira. With two nippy strikers in Darryl Duffy and Dudu Omagbemi, Sal-gaocar know their strength is the counter. "We have two quick strikers and a speedy midfield to back them. We worked on our strength and got the desired result," said Salgaocar chief coach Derrick Pereira.
Young Clifton Dias played the pivotal role for Salgaocar in midfield. Also adding teeth to the middle was Gilbert Oliveira and skipper Rocus Lamare. And though Dempo showed more vibrancy in midfield led by the effervescent Brazilian Roberto Mendis da Silva, better known as Beto, with no high quality striker upfront, finding the net was always going to be difficult, especially when you have Augustin Fernandes, Mathew Foschini and Chika Wali, among the best defenders in the I-league.
The goals for Salgaocar came from the boots of Bikash Jairu and Darryl Duffy within a span of five minutes -- 18th and 22nd to be precise. "We combined well but lost too many balls. Salgaocar played well and capi-talised on the chances they got while we failed though we created quite a few ourselves," said Arthur Papas, the Dempo chief coach.
Pune FC suffer first defeat, go down 1-3
Pune FC suffered their first AFC Cup defeat going down 1-3 to Tampines Rovers FC in a Group-H Round 3 encounter at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore on Wednesday.
Attacker Riga Mustapha (15th minute) gave Pune FC the lead with a penalty kick conversion before striker Miljan Mrdakovic (38th) pulled the hosts level in the first half.
Second half strikes from medio Closa Gonzalez (61st) and Mrdakovic (69th) handed Tampines Rovers all three points.