League leaders East Bengal suffered their first defeat in the seventh National Football League, going down to JCT, Phagwara, 0-2 in an 18th round match at the Guru Nanak stadium in Ludhiana on Wednesday.

The hero of JCT's victory was none other than international I M Vijayan, who scored the second goal and was instrumental in setting-up Jo Paul Ancheri, another international, who netted the first goal.

JCT had lost the first leg 0-1 in Kolkata.

A lot was expected from East Bengal who, with 43 points, are well-placed atop the league standings. But the Phagwara side, winners of the first NFL, were in devastating form.

Victory in today's match maintained their resurgence after a poor show in the first leg and kept them in contention for the title.

For the Kolkata team, this was their first loss in 18 encounters, having won 13 matches and drawn four.