Salgaocar storm into Fed Cup semis

Balwant Singh scored the third for Salgaocar in the 90th minute.

I-League champions Salgaocar SC stormed into the semifinals of the 33rd Federation Cup football tournament after blanking Pailan Arrows 3-0 at the Balewadi Sports Complex on Thursday.

Chidi Edeh put Salgaocar in the lead as early as the third minute,scoring off a half-turn while a lucky Gilbert Oliviera scored the second in the 49th minute when Lalrozamas clearance bounced off Gilberts knee into the net. Balwant Singh scored the third for Salgaocar in the 90th minute.

Salgaocar finished their league engagements with seven points while Pailan finished second in Group B with six points ahead of Mumbai FC and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. They will now take on Shillong Lajong FC at the Salt Lake Stadium on September 25.

Pailan,who needed just a draw to qualify for the knockout stages,were hit hard by the absence of skipper Shilton DSilva due to a knee injury. Stung by the early reverse,they tried to regroup as they went all out for the equaliser. They could have got it too,but striker S Sabeeth slipped and failed to hold on to a pass from Ajay Singh on the stroke of interval.

Earlier,in another match,Mumbai FC defeated HAL 2-1 to finish third in the group.

Prayag United advance

Kolkata: Prayag United SC registered a 2-1 win over Sporting Clube de Goa to set up a semifinal clash against seven-time champions East Bengal.

Prayag dominated from the start with medio Denson Devadas giving an early fifth minute lead. Substitute Joshimar Da Silva Martins doubled the lead in the 82nd minute. Sporting Clube reduced the margin with Ogba Kalu converting a penalty in the 88th minute.

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The Goans,who needed a draw to book the semifinal berth,struggled to get their act together. With two wins and a draw,Prayag topped group D with seven points while Sporting Clube ended their campaign with six points.

In another match,Air India ended their campaign on a winning note with a 3-2 victory over Chirag United Kerala at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan. Air India struck through Soccor Velho 12th,Takayuki Omi 31th and Henry Ezeh 53rd but the Kerala team fought back through Michael Matricciani 40th and Manoj TM 80th.