I-League Media Team:

GOA: Tolgay Ozbey scored in the third minute of added time as Dempo Sports Club stuttered to a 3-2 victory over Royal Wahingdoh at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Wednesday.

Dempo started in amazing fashion, launching a number of raids and were rewarded when Sushil Kumar Singh found the mark in the 26th minute. But Dempo allowed all their good work to be spoilt when they conceded a freak goal, scored by Loveday Okechukwu at the stroke of half time. In the second session, Tolgay Ozbey rose from the bench to put his team ahead for the second time with only seven minutes on the clock but Dempo messed it up again after conceding another soft goal, this time in the 84th minute. In added time, however, Tolgay proved to be Dempo’s saviour with the match winner.

Dempo started in a whirlwind manner and created plenty of chances. The first came in the sixth minute itself when Francis Fernandes latched on to a long ball from Lenny Rodrigues but his subsequent attempt was blocked by Royal Wahingdoh goalkeeper Prem Kumar Singh.

In the 16th minute, there was another clear chance but Jewel Shaikh Raja missed the easiest of opportunity when Debabrata Roy had fed him on the platter. The Dempo midfielder missed with an open goal in front of him.

Royal Wahindoh were playing a waiting game and chances were hard to come by. They did have a look at the rival goal when Naoba Singh’s shot rattled Dempo goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani but defender Rowilson Rodrigues was on hand to avert the danger.

Dempo were rewarded for their persistent efforts in the 26th minute when Sushil Kumar Singh came up with a diving header to open the account from a measured cross by Haroon Amiri.

Just when it seemed Dempo were comfortable, Royal Wahingdoh struck back at the stroke of half time. A free kick from Naoba saw Kattimani make a mess of it, allowing Densill Theobald to take aim first and then Loveday to hammer it inside the goal.

In the second session, the arrival of Tolgay gave Dempo renewed hope. The Australian striker found the back of the net with a powerful right footer after some good work by Francis on the right in the 83rd minute, but Dempo were guilty of allowing the visitors a route to the equalizer as captain Densill Theobald scored from an acute angle.

Just when it seemed like Dempo had blundered, Tolgay came up with another fine effort, this time from a goalmouth melee to finally make sure Dempo walked out with all three points on offer.