JCT hold mighty East Bengal

East Bengal's hopes of consolidating their position atop the points table received a setback as they were held to a 2-2 draw by a spirited JCT Mills in the fifth National Football League, at the Salt Lake stadium, Calcutta, on Wednesday.

The glamour club paid the price for turning a trifle complacent after going ahead early in the contest and were forced to lift their game to eventually find the equaliser midway through the second session.

Striker Dipendu Biswas put the home team in the lead as early as the 10th minute, converting a penalty, but JCT roared back into the game shortly after the interval with substitute Sameer and striker Sukhjit Singh scoring goals within two minutes to raise hopes of a stunning upset.

Jolted by the two successive strikes, East Bengal went into the offensive and managed to restore parity with striker Omalaja Olalekan producing a brilliant goal much to the delight of his teammates.

East Bengal, who were keen to garner full points from this home match against their weak opponents, had only themselves to blame for the debacle as the defenders seemed to underestimate their opponents in the second session.

With this draw, East Bengal have now 35 points from 16 outings while JCT are still languishing at the bottom of the table with just 11 points from as many matches.