Wins for Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Dempo but Churchill held

Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Dempo won their respective matches while Churchill Brothers were held by Shillong Lajong FC in the U-20 I-League matches here on Wednesday.

Mohun Bagan defeated Air India 2-0 and Lajong held Churchill goalless in Group C, Dempo beat Mumbai FC 2-1 and East Bengal show off ONGC 1-0 in Group B.

Dempo surged ahead in the 13th minute through striker Clencio Pinto against last year's runners-up Mumbai FC. The Mumbai side equalized when forward Cletus Paul scored a goal in the 52nd minutes.

Dempo, however, scored the winner just nine minutes later when forward Myron Fernandes converted an accurate pass.

In another tie, both Churchill Brothers and Shillong Lajong FC missed a couple of golden chances and had to be contented with shared points.

Against Mohun Bagan, Air India managed to keep their defence intact till the lemon break.

However, striker Mayon Kaping put the Kolkata team into the lead in the 50th minute while forward Prohlad Roy scored the second goal in the 82nd minute.

Air India forward Yungrei Khokyar's right footer from inside the box in the dying moment was brilliantly saved by Bagan goalkeeper Md Tajuddin.

Another Kolkata outfit East Bengal defeated ONGC by a solitary first half goal when striker Biswajit Das dribbled past a couple of the rival defenders after receiving a pass from the left flank and netted the winner in the 29th minute.