Draw compounds A-I8217;s agony

The A-I strike force was equally guilty of muffing easy chances. Towards the closing stages of the match, A-I put pressure on the Tollygunge defence but failed to make inroads into the box system devised by coach Amal Dutta.

Tollygunge8217;s defence of Awoyen Isiaka, Hussain Mustafi, Sibsankar Santra andBasu held the A-I attacks near the box, ably supported by their medios.

After dominating for almost 30 minutes from the start, Tollygunge made the first goal-threatening attempt with a long ranger. Defender Biswarup Bisu unleashed a 35-yard shot which stunned A-I custodian Partha Das. However, Tollygunge was unlucky as the ball hit the bar and sailed over.

A-I coach Bimal Ghosh wasn8217;t pleased with his side8217;s performance. 8220;We could have returned the goals we took from them in last match. But our next match is going to be crucial if we have to stay in the contention.8221; Amal Dutta, on the other hand, was happy to earn a point from the outing. 8220;The league is a marathon run so every point is important,8221; he said.