Dempo paid the price once again of playing with long passes as
the Jeepmen defeated the Goan outfit 3-1 in the XIth round of the I 
League match which was rescheduled after the Mumbai terror attacks at
the Cooperage Stadium, Mumbai on Monday.
The Mumbai outfit though didn't have better ball possession as
compared to Dempo but it was Rafi who put Mahindra in the lead in the
39th minute. But Dempo had to wait till the second half to score the
equalizer.
The start of the match witnessed Mahindra starting on an attacking
note and keeping the Goan outfit defence at bay. But it was Dempo who
had the first chance of taking the lead. In the 11th minute, Ranty
Martins gave a cross to Jaquim Abrnaches from the left flank.
Abranches managed to get the ball past Mahindra custodian Subhasish
Roy Chowdhary but his left footer was away from the post.
The chance shook the hosts as 17th minute saw Mahindra getting into
the act and Md. Rafi was left unmarked as he received the ball near
the half line from the right flank. But he failed to shoot as Indian
defender Mahesh Gawli was alert enough to stop Rafi from putting the
ball past Dempo custodian VP Satish Kumar.
Jeepmen came close to taking the lead in the 23rd minute when a cross
from Md. Rafi from inside the box had Chidi Edeh unmarked but the
striker failed to connect the ball and missed out on a chance that
could have given them the much needed lead.
But Mahindra didn't have to wait longer as in the 39th minute Steven
Dias passed the ball to Sukhwinder Singh after Mahindra received a
free kick and Sukhwinder's powerful low right footer had Satish Kumar
diving on to his right to give the possession to Chidi Edeh who just
tapped the ball to pass it on to Mohammed Rafi. Dempo defenders failed
to mark Rafi and he had no problems in giving the Jeepmen a 1-0 lead.
With a 1-0 lead in the first half it was expected that Mahindra were
expected to win the encounter as they were a more composed side and
the Jeepmen strikers were taking full advantage of the shaky Dempo
defence line up.
But in the 49th minute Dempo pulled on back as Ranty Martins powerful
left footer rebounded off the bar and an alert Beto headed ball in to
score the equalizer. It was something that Mahindra didn't expect. And
the equalizer woke the Jeepmen as in the 78th minute saw Mahindra
taking the lead. Douhou through ball to Chidi had the later unmarked
and he took full advantage of the situation as he put the ball past
the Satish Kumar to give his team a 2-1 lead. And Mahindra's Douhou
netted in the 83rd minute to seal the fate of the game.
Both the Nigerians were back in action and this time it was Douhou who
netted in the ball. Chidi's cross from the right flank had Douhou
inside the box and a perfect far post header gave Mahindra a 3-1 lead
to seal the game in Mahindra's favor.
MEDIA RELEASE