JCT hold Bagan

JCT Mills, Phagwara, dented defending champions Mohun Bagan's title hopes by holding held them 2-2 in the National Football League, in Calcutta, on Saturday.

Two goals up in the first session, the champions of the first National League were on the way to only their second success in the fifth edition of the tournament, but complacency set in their game and they paid a price for it.

Sukhjit Singh and Hardip Gill put the Punjab outfit ahead, but Bagan rallied superbly in the second session to draw level through goals from strikes by Lolendra Singh and Amar Ganguly, much to the delight of their few supporters at the Salt Lake stadium.

Bagan, who seemed to have found their bearings in the last few matches after a lacklustre showing early in the league, looked rudderless in the opening session in the absence of a number of key players, particularly their star Brazilian striker Jose Ramirez Barreto, who had to sit out following a double booking.

But after trailing 0-2 at the breather, they gathered themselves in the second half, applied pressure on their opponents and could have grabbed full three points, had their forwards converted the chances which came their way.

agan, with 32 points in their kitty after 17 matches, are now three points adrift of East Bengal, who have played one match less.

JCT, fighting to stave off relegation, are on 12 points from 17 engagements.