Kolkata: A first half strike from Holicharan Narzary gave Dempo a 1-0 win over Mohun Bagan in the round 15 clash of the Airtel I-League at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday evening.
The result saw Dempo jump to the seventh place while Mohun Bagan suffered their fifth defeat of this campaign and dropped to 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.
Dempo’s young side slowly started getting into the game and looked dangerous on the 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 in front 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 CS 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 misplaced passes from the hosts while the youngsters of Dempo looked threatening on the counter attacks.
Mohun Bagan’s real chance came midway through the second period when some fine interplay between Odafa and Katsumi Yusa set up Sabeeth but he delayed and his shot was blocked. Minutes later Odafa’s header hit the woodwork after a Manish Bhargav cross as the home side finally built some momentum.
The service for Odafa 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 the second and even had Jewel Raja sent off in stoppage time but they held on for only their third win of the season.
