Now Dempo lose,JCT allege foul play

On Wednesday,they were favourties going into the game against HAL.

Two days after Dempo SC’s 14-0 mauling of Air India,the Goan club suffered an unexpected loss in their final match of the season,a 4-2 to relegation battlers Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at Margaon,that also saw a self-goal add to the 2010-11 defending champions’ woes.

Dempo’s win over Air India on Monday raised a stink in football circles because the team needed to 13-0 win to have any chance of competing with Salgaocar for the title and managed to surpass the tally even after the first 30 minutes went goalless. On Wednesday,they were favourties going into the game against HAL.

The contrasting nature of the way Dempo players went about the two games,both ending in unexpected results,has put them under the scanner.

This result gave HAL three valuable points and helped them escape relegation. ONGC and JCT were the two teams that were relegated.

JCT,the winner of the inaugural edition of the I-League in 1996-97,after losing to Salgaocar 0-2 on Wednesday,were shocked when they heard that Dempo had subsequently lost to HCL. Dempo’s loss meant JCT were relegated.

Fixing allegations,again

JCT coach Parminder Singh wasn’t impressed. It is difficult to believe that Dempo,the defending champions,lost to HAL. Remember,Dempo had thrashed Air India,which was a much superior side compared to HAL, a shocked Parminder said. I am not the only one to say this but the match does look fixed. Those who watched the match said that important players were dropped and Beto,who scored a hat-trick against Air India,was not moving past the centre,” Singh said.

Dempo coach Armando Colaco,however,rubbished these allegations. I will never engage in such an immoral act. Sometimes you win with a big margin and sometimes you lose badly. We were at our best against Air India and completely dominated the game,but that win left our players exhausted. We had only a day’s break and our players could hardly move, Colaco told The Indian Express on Wednesday .

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Dempo started the game with two of their main players Ranti Martins who scored seven goals in the previous match and Beto as strikers. HAL took the lead with RC Prakash scoring in the 10th minute but the league’s top-scorer Martins equalised with a free kick in the 25th.

Martins helped his team take the lead going into half-time by scoring his second goal in the 41 st minute. Xavier Vijay Kumar equalised for HAL within five minutes of the restart and managed to give his team the lead in the 68th minute.

Lose-lose situation

However,the result was sealed when Valleriano Rebello of Dempo turned the ball into his own net in the 87th minute. Colaco said that the team lost the psychological edge after conceding the title to Salgaocar at the end of the previous round on Monday.