Vasco : Dempo Sports Club soared back from an early deficit to secure a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Sporting Club Bengaluru in a pulsating AIFF I-League 3 playoff encounter at Tilak Maidan on Tuesday.
Bengaluru struck a gut punch in the opening seconds when Arif Shaikh coolly slotted past Dempo keeper Wellyster Mendes after a long ball exposed the home side’s defense. Dempo’s Sanwil D’Costa’s pinpoint cross found Inamdar again, but fate, disguised as the Bengaluru keeper, intervened. Shai Karpan, set up by Shaikh, unleashed a rocket that clattered against the crossbar. The visitors went into the breather with a slender lead, but the scoreline barely hinted at the drama unfolding on the pitch.
The second half saw Wellyster, Dempo’s custodian, morph into a wall. Shai, repeatedly charging at him like a battering ram, found an impassable brick edifice in the Dempo goal. In the 56th minute, Dempo finally found their equalizer. Ariston Costa, with a surveyor’s eye, launched a long ball that found Inamdar. The striker, with a touch as deft as a brushstroke, controlled the ball, bypassed the keeper, and tucked it home.
Bengaluru, though deflated, weren’t finished. Johnson Mathew’s free-kick clanged off the crossbar. Then, the woodwork, playing both villain and hero, denied Bengaluru again. In the dying minutes of the game, Shubham Rawat, Dempo’s late substitute, was stretchered off after a collision. Dempo SC, are now on four points and next take on Sporting Clube de Goa who are also on four points.
