Dempo Sports Club of Goa remained on top in football's I-League despite their barren draw with JCT, Phagwara in a sixth round match here on Sunday.
With the draw at the Ambedkar Stadium, Dempo now have 14 points from six matches while second-placed JCT have 12 from as many matches.
JCT needed a win to displace the Goan team from the top but suffered mainly due to the absence of striker Sunil Chettri and the waywardness of Brazilian forward Eduardo Escobar.
The only clear chance JCT had was in the 21st minute when a mispass found Parveen Kumar clear off the Dempo goalie VP Satish Kumar. But a clever clearance by Sameer Naik saw the chance go abegging.
Five minutes later, Dempo's Nigerian striker Ranty Martins came close to scoring but his header missed the bar by a whisker. Martins was set up by a fine cross from Joaquim Abranches but the Nigerian mistimed his header and squandered the opportunity.
The match was played more in the midfield and Dempo's Brazilian playmaker Beto impressed everyone with his intelligent passing but failed to create opportunities for the forwards. Beto also had a shot at the goal but his long ranger in the 67th minute missed the horizontal by an inch.
Bagan hold Churchill
Ten-men Mohun Bagan held Durand Cup Champions Churchill Brothers to 2-2 draw and split points in their 6th round of ONGC I-League championship match being played here at Nehru stadium Fatorda, adds UNI from Margao.
All the four goals came in the second half. Dharamjit Singh in the 47th minute and Baichung Bhutia in the 70th minute scored for Bagan while for Churchill Brothers, goals came through Odafe Okolie in the 67th minute and Mboyo Iyomi in the 71st minute.
After a barren first half, Mohun Bagan played with renewed vigour and shot into the lead in the 47th minute through Dharamjit Singh.
In the 53rd minute, Mohan Bagan were reduced to ten men when the referee gave marching orders to Mohan Raj after the defender defender was booked with two yellow cards. Churchill restored parity in the 67th minute through Odafe Okolie.
Mohun Bagan increased their lead in the 70th minute through Bhutia, but Churchill equalised through Mboyo Iyomi off a good pass sent by Odafe to make it 2-2.
