Dempo kickstart AFC challenge with full points

Dempo,who play their home matches at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa,had to play at the Balewadi complex here instead due to lack of floodlight facilities back home.

Dempo FC played their first game of the AFC Cup 450km away from their home ground,but that did not take away the home advantage for the Indian side,who won 2-1 against Yemen side Al Tilal on Tuesday.

Dempo,who play their home matches at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa,had to play at the Balewadi complex here instead due to lack of floodlight facilities back home. But that did not matter for the defending I-League champions,who dominated most of the proceedings in the first half,even though it were Al Tilal who got off to a good start. The visitors had a chance to take the lead in the opening minute of the game itself,when their striker Tafese took a hard shot at the goal from the top of the D,but Dempo keeper Subhashish Roy Chowdhury managed to just parry it away.

Dempo responded well and improved their passing,getting their own first shot at scoring when Beto put striker Ranti Martins in with a defence-splitting pass. Martins however took too much time on the ball and the rival defender managed to block his shot. Dempo thereafter enjoyed a major share of ball possession and took charge of the game. The midfielders controlled the game well with smart interchange of short passes and won a couple of corners and even had a header cleared off the line,but failed to break the deadlock. Al Tilal did put some late pressure towards the end of the half but were unable to capitalise.

Dempo started the second half with a bang and took lead through Beto in the 52nd minute,who made no mistake heading in after being put through from the right in a delightful cross on the overlap. Trailing,Al Tilal increased the pace of their game and Dempo appeared relaxed,ceding ground to the Yemen side that slowly kept increasing their attacks. Dempo,on the other hand,were content on taking shots on the counter.

Defender Mahesh Gawli marshalled the defence effectively to soak in the repeated attacks from Al Tilal and Dempo doubled their lead in the 61st minute. Ranti Martins received a pass from the midfield which put him in on the goal,and he cut past the keeper into the open net.

Al Tilal,however,did not give up and kept launching attacks,and were finally rewarded in the 76th minute,pulling one back through Tafese after being set up by striker Ruffin. They created more chances to score but could not convert as Dempo managed to hold on for the rest of the game to gain full points.