Calcutta: Dempo SC rode an Antony Pereira strike to overcome HASC at the Salt Lake Stadium.

In the 26th minute, Ranty Martins, having been fed by Sameer Naik, took a shot, which deflected off a HASC defender. Goalkeeper Gumphe Rime managed to parry the danger partially as Pereira followed the ball to tap in from close.

Durand Cup winners Dempo clearly the held the edge over their Bangalore rivals and should have returned winners by a much bigger margin.

Their first concrete move almost produced a goal, when defender Valeriand Rebglo loped up as Naik went on to take a corner in the 10th minute. He took a quickfire shot when the ball landed in front of him and Rime could only watch it ricochet off the post.

HASC immediately replied in what could arguably be described as their most potent attack. Following a Raghui Singh flag-kick, Kuttimani’s header, however, sailed over the horizontal.

However, Dempo looked more purposeful in setpiece moves.

Time and again, the Rantis and Betos spelled danger in the HASC box, following Jerry Zirasanga’s run down the flanks or Naik’s curving flag-kicks. Beto, in fact, squandered a golden opportunity, missing the target from close in the 64th minute.

TEAMS

Dempo: VP Satish Kumar, Valeriand Rebglo, John Dias, Domnic Noronha, Samir Naik, Clifford Miranda, Climax Lawrence, Roberto Silva Mendes Beto (Ishfaq Ahmed 86), Jerry Zirasanga (Joaqnim Abranches, 81), RantyMartins, Antony Pereira (Nascimento Silvigira 76)

HASC: Gumphe Rime, Govin Singh, Prasanta Jaggi (Srikanth 74), Pawan Kumar, Manoj Raj, Sunil (C. Prakash 68), Raghui Singh, Rajendra Prasad, Kuttimani, Xavier Vijay Kumar, Reisangmi Vashum

Referee: Dipak Singh Bisht.